Taken
by Reparata
Summary: Something has happened and our favorite BBT guy has a lot to figure out if he's going to survive long in his new environment. Sheldon/OC but still Sheldon. I double-dog dare you to read it and step outside of your comfort zone and embrace diversity - LOL
1. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

A crossover but there's no category for it. I enjoyed writing this and consequently your opinions are of less than little value - I'M KIDDING...

September can't come soon enough for me.

Reparata 6/26/2012

* * *

Taken – Chapter 1 Posted 6/26/2012

Paintball Park Annual Tournament  
Pasadena, July 2012

Sheldon Cooper stood unmoving, aiming his paintball rifle through the opening in the thick trees at the spot he knew one of the Engineering Team had to pass through to get to his Team's flag. His camouflaged coveralls and his painted helmet blended in perfectly with the surrounding trees and brush. He'd even stuck a few leafy twigs into it to break up his outline.

Penny, Raj, Leonard and Howard were 20 meters to his left and he anchored the L-shaped ambush. Winkle remained in watch over their flag 150 meters to their rear. She'd been drinking and had accidentally shot Kripke in the crotch several times – by accident, she said. The Team voted unanimously to have Winkle 'guard the flag' while Kripke went and sat in the car.

Sheldon was excited. If they decimated the Engineering Team then Team Physics would advance to second place behind the Pasadena Police SWAT Team, the farthest they'd ever progressed in the double-elimination match.

Both he and Leonard were squabbling over where to display the trophy. Leonard wanted it in their living room whereas Sheldon felt that it would garner more attention in the CalTech trophy case.

Sheldon's keen hearing detected cloth rustling against the underbrush and he could barely contain his excitement. He took a deep breath and held it, letting it out very slowly as he anticipated the appearance of one of the enemy's heads in his sights. He always went for the head because they'd lost a match when someone questioned a 'partial paint splatter'. There was never any doubt about any of his 'kills'. The paint-smeared visor and chest and his victim's curses…

He started to squeeze the trigger when he heard a shrill whistling sound and then…

* * *

The Collector Unit had stalked its prey much like the prey was stalking its. It made no sound and if a machine could display impatience, it would have been fidgeting like mad. Its mission would be complete when it beamed the biped into its buffer and departed. It had been on this planet far too long waiting for a qualified subject to stray into its path, far, far too long, a millenium too long.

Its program had been very specific about its quarry: carbon-based life form, bipedal, extremely high intelligence, aggressive and definitely male. An Alpha male of the designated species. Above all, the prey was to be unharmed.

Mission accomplished, it began preparing to leave the planet's gravity well and then ignited its propulsion unit and soon achieved escape velocity and beyond. Once free of the planet's atmosphere it initiated a subspace signal and then powered down waiting for recovery by its designers.

A solar flare hit at just the right moment in time and the Collector's program and circuitry were corrupted and the device repeated its last action on the planet's surface and fired its propulsion unit.

Its speed soon surpassed that of light and it left the solar system and headed out into deep space.

* * *

Paintball Park Annual Tournament  
Pasadena, 2012

"What do you mean, you're suspending the search? Our friend is out there somewhere, maybe hurt, maybe dying, and you're suspending the search?" Leonard and Howard restrained Penny from braining the Pasadena police officer.

"Miss, it's dark and the Feds have taken over the entire park. Something about radiation levels and, hell, we've all been exposed and we're all going into quarantine."

"Quarantine after exposure to radiation? That's not right. We need to be in hospital being examined and treated for exposure. Is anyone else feeling nauseous? It's a symptom of radiation poisoning. Oh, God, I'm going to lose my hair and – " Winkle was nearly hysterical and getting louder and louder…

Penny punched her in the throat, ending her hysteria. "Radiation poisoning my ass! You're hung over, bitch. You didn't even help us look for Sheldon. You and Kripke over there just stayed behind and got royally pissed! Now shut up while we figure out how to find my Moon Pie!"

No trace of Sheldon Cooper was ever found. It was like he'd been snatched off the planet. The Feds declared the entire Paintball Park a restricted area and fenced it off. Rumors of a UFO sighting added to the mystery. Everyone had seen a ball of light trailing a fiery tail scream up into the afternoon sky.

The Feds closed the investigation and Sheldon Cooper was declared legally dead. The 'UFO' was publicly identified as a malfunctioning weather balloon, nothing more and certainly not anything extraterrestrial.

* * *

453 years later  
Delta Quadrant

"Something's coming out of the wormhole. Something fast. Red Alert!"

The tactical officer brought up the forward screens and shields while simultaneously plotting a pattern of weapons fire that would either disable or destroy the object that was heading right towards them at an incredible speed.

"Captain on the bridge!", someone shouted out of habit since everyone was watching as the object grew larger and larger in the forward viewing screens.

"Situation report" snapped the captain.

"An unknown object exited the wormhole and changed its bearing and is now on a collision course, warp 2. Object is a probe of some kind but it's like nothing I've seen before."

"Prepare to fire on my order," ordered the captain. Whatever the object was, it had changed course upon exiting the wormhole and was not heading…wait, was it decelerating?

"Hold fire. Long range scanners. Science officer, what say you?"

"It's dropped out of warp and is rapidly decelerating. It's a probe, oh, wait…it's a Harvester Probe…from one of the Progenitor planets. No telling how long it's been in space…or why it's out here in the Delta Quadrant."

"Prepare a tractor beam and bring it aboard landing bay 3. Alert Medical and security to have teams standing by. For all we know, it may have harvested something akin to a Tyrannosaurus Rex!"

* * *

Landing bay 3

"Captain, we've analyzed the probe's containment buffer and – and it's a human being in there!"

"What are the chances of it being…viable?" She knew from past experience that objects or beings held in the transport buffer suffered from degradation over time and from the looks of the exterior of the probe, it had been in space a long time.

"Unknown, Captain, but it's only right to release it, and allow Nature to take its course." He made a note to have medical prepare a euthanasia kit in case the being in the buffer reformed into something inside-out or worse. No sentient being deserved to suffer the pain and agony of such a fate.

"How do we initiate a transport? We have no means of – "

The Captain's concerns were unnecessary. The probe itself had determined that the conditions set forth in its programming instructions had been met and initiated a series of actions and released the transport buffer into the ambient environment.

The swirling motes of glitter that were released from containment coalesced into the outline of a man and finally into the man himself.

"**_Bazinga!" _**Sheldon Cooper shouted his battle cry and fired two paintballs into the head and body of his opponent. The shout would tell his teammates that their flank was secure and they'd take out the engineering team in a flurry of yellow paintballs. Victory!

His victory cry died on his lips when he was hit by several stunning blasts from the phasers of the security team. He crumpled to the deck. His last thought was that the forest floor was harder than steel.

"Captain, are you all right?" Her XO helped her up while a medical technician ran scans and poured liquid into her captain's eyes and wiped yellow paint from her captain's face.

Katherine Janeway looked down at the figure crumpled on the deck. It was wearing a raggedy uniform of some sort and a helmet and facemask. Foliage had been stuck into the helmet to break up the outline.

"Transport him to sickbay and alert them to use a level 1 containment field. He's obviously a soldier of some sort, probably a member of a militia from after WWIII. No doubt he was taken while on a training exercise. I'll want a report as soon as possible."

She turned to the crewmembers crowded around and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have been presented with a gift from the past, someone who can fill in the many blank spots in our understanding of the Interregnum. Return to your stations and thank you for your assistance."

* * *

Sick Bay

"Ah, you're awake. Good. I'm the Doctor and I'm happy to report that you are in excellent condition. The twitching and facial contortions as well as the 'pins and needles' will subside. Can you tell me your name?"

The face that gazed down upon him had a kindly look and Sheldon immediately felt comfortable. Someone had their ducks in order if he was under the care of a physician.

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper. And you are…?" He was asking for the doctor's name.

"I already told you. I'm the Doctor. Are you having short term memory issues, Mr. Cooper?" He was running a medical scanner over Sheldon's head and making 'hmm' sounds.

"No, not at all. But haven't you a name? I understand from social protocols that it is polite to identify oneself when meeting new people. As a physician, surely you know that putting the patient at ease is of primary concern."

"Surely. I am the Doctor. No one ever asked me if I had a personal designation. You are the first, Mr. Cooper. Now, what is – "

"Doctor. I'm _Doctor_ Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD." Sheldon was a stickler for the proper use of his title. He'd worked hard for all the letters following his name.

"Very well. I apologize for my error. Now, _Doctor_ Cooper, what is the date? Do you know what has happened to you?"

"You're skirting the issue of your name, Doctor. Surely you have one."

"Um, well, no. I'm just the Doctor. The EMH, the Emergency Medical Hologram. Now, what is the date?"

Sheldon was struck by a sudden thought: he was in some kind of asylum and the inmates had taken over and this man was surely an inmate posing as a physician.

"It's Saturday, July 28, 2012. I infer, from your presence, that I was injured somehow and am now in a hospital. This _is_ a hospital, correct?"

The EMH was startled by the recitation of the date. "No, it's not a hospital, Dr. Cooper. You're in Sick Bay. You were released from a Harvester probe and brought here for examination. You are in fine shape for a man of your age." A little humor would go a long way towards cushioning the shock that was sure to come.

"I'm 31 years old, Doctor, and I eat correctly, hydrate, and ensure that I have the proper amount of fiber in my diet. I even exercise."

"I meant – never mind. The captain will want to speak with you, I'm sure, just as soon as she cleans up after your paint attack. Are you a soldier? Were you on a training exercise when you were taken?"

"A soldier? Me?" He started laughing but stopped when he saw that the Doctor was not sharing the joke. And what did he mean by _taken_?

"I am a theoretical particle physicist concentrating on proving String Theory and thus the makeup of the known and probably unknown universe. I'm a professor at CalTech, Doctor, not a soldier."

The doctor looked at the ceiling momentarily and then asked 'Computer, please research the data base for our young visitor here, Dr. Sheldon Cooper of CalTech.'

"You can interrogate your computer's database verbally? Fascinating." He was intrigued by the possibilities of being free of the need for a keyboard.

"Yes. Ask it something. 'Computer, accept voice inquiries and commands from Dr. Cooper, my authority.' Now, go ahead. You must have thousands of questions."

"I'm sorry, Doctor. You've been very kind to me. Computer, deactivate the Emergency Medical Hologram. My authority."

"Wait! You don't know – " and the doctor vanished. Sheldon was shaken by the Doctor's sudden disappearance but shook it off, his scientific curiosity getting the better of him.

"Fascinating." He didn't know exactly where he was but he knew he had to get out and find a way to get home. The inmates of this high tech facility were obviously in charge. All he had to do was find an exit and then a phone and the nightmare would be over. Leonard would pick him up, probably bitching the entire ride but at least he'd be home.

**A/N: Please share your thoughts. I was thinking who in all TV land is as structured and 'stuck up the ass with a stick' and I found out on Netflix.**

**Reparata 6/26/2012**


	2. Sheldon Rescues 'Borg'

A/N: This is a finished fic BUT it is still subject to contraction and re-editing. Where's the love, peeps? LOl

Reparata

* * *

Taken – Chapter 2

It took Sheldon a few minutes to find a way out of what the Doctor had called 'sick bay'. He'd grabbed his gear (messenger bag and paint ball rifle), donned his helmet and walked down a windowless corridor lined with many closed doors.

He increased his pace, almost on the verge of panic. It took him almost 40 minutes to realize that he was on a lozenge-shaped floor and that was because he passed by the entrance to 'sick bay' again. _What kind of idiots design a hospital without safety exits? There must be a stairwell or an elevator and I just missed it._

He heard voices approaching and he ducked into an alcove of sorts and listened to their chatter. 'I can't believe it, can you? A soldier from Earth's past all the way out here? One of the security team said he attacked the captain! They've left the probe in cargo bay...'

The two women walked past him and stood at a door several meters down the corridor from him and Sheldon carefully observed their protocols. They announced their destination and the doors closed and they were gone. He figured it was a high tech elevator of sorts and he waited a decent interval, slouching down on his haunches and taking out a bottle of water from his survival pack.

Figuring that enough time had elapsed, he stood before the doors and announced 'Cargo Bay 3, please' and waited. The computer voice told him that _'Cargo Bay 3 was restricted to command and security personnel only'._

Miffed, he figured that a cargo bay was a cargo bay and that if it was their name for a loading dock then he was almost outside and from there he need only find a phone.

"Cargo Bay 2, please." The doors opened and he stepped in and repeated his destination and in seconds he felt the rapid acceleration and lateral movement and then the doors opened into another corridor and he stepped out.

He walked down the corridor until he came to a door labeled 'Cargo Bay 2' and waved his hand as he'd seen others do but the door remained closed. "Computer, open the door to Cargo Bay 2, please."

_"Unable to comply. Access is restricted to senior officers and medical staff."_

He pressed his ear against the door and heard a buzzing sound like electricity and then examined the keypad beside the door. He took out his multi-tool from his messenger bag and pried the cover plate off and then rummaged around and found a paperclip and used it to complete a circuit and the door whooshed open.

He stepped into a cavernous area that was poorly lit. The door whooshed closed behind him. There were packing cases and what looked like chairs and a table. Against one wall was an alcove of sorts and inside, surrounded by a greenish glow that made her skin appear gray and mottled, appeared to be a woman undergoing some sort of electro-therapy. He wasn't a medical doctor but he knew that something was off.

Sheldon removed his helmet and messenger bag and set them on the table beside his rifle and slowly walked over to the device. A young woman was standing prone against the rear of the device, her hands holding onto handles while her head was enveloped in green bolts of what appeared to be electrical energy of some kind.

"My God, what are they doing to this poor woman?" he muttered to himself. He approached her, noting that she was either sedated or unconscious because of the tortures she was enduring.

He was afraid of being electrocuted but he couldn't allow the woman to suffer. It was inhumane. He grabbed both of her arms at the wrist and placed them around his neck and then stepped forward and grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled.

Her head fell forward against his shoulder and he saw that a belt or strap of some kind was holding her in place. Sheldon unsnapped it and wrapped his arms around her waist and felt electrodes disappearing into her spine.

"_What kind of experiments and tortures are they subjecting her to_?" he thought, shuddering at the memories of his own 'examinations' as a child.

Determined to free her, he pulled each of the wires from her back and she sighed as Sheldon pulled her free and lowered her gently to the floor. She was heavier than she looked. He pulled his messenger bag down off the table and took out the plastic bottle of water.

He pulled the young woman into a sitting position against his chest and her head lolled back over his shoulder. He tried to get a little water between her lips, but she coughed and pushed his hand away.

"Easy now. I'm not going to harm you. Why are you being held in this cargo bay? Who are you?" The woman was tall and wearing what looked like a 1950's high-altitude pressure suit that failed to hide that she was abundantly mammalian. Her blonde hair was done up in some twisty thing that kept it from her face.

"I am…Borg." She wasn't fully conscious yet.

"Social protocols suggest that I respond with my identity. I am Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Can you sit up on your own, Borg? I need to find an exit out of this mad house and then I'll be right back to help you escape. Are you injured?"

"No. I – my regeneration cycle is incomplete and I am – yes, I can sit up on my own. I _am_ Borg, after all." Her tone of superiority and condescension irritated Sheldon and he snapped back at her.

"Yes, you already told me that. I'm not damaged in any way and my hearing is quite acute. Once I find an exit, we'll be able to leave and contact the authorities. My friends will come for me and you're welcome to stay with me until your family or friends can take you home."

"I have no family or friends. My link to the collective has been irreversibly severed and I can no longer hear the others. The silence…is painful. I can never go 'home' again."

There was the hint of wistfulness, longing and bitterness in the blonde woman's voice and Sheldon knew how she felt. He always felt sadness when he thought about those few people who mattered to him. He never seemed to really fit in with any group except for the guys and Penny and even then he still felt awkward, still an outsider. He knew that it was only a matter of time until they went about their life-business and left him behind.

"Well, you're welcome to stay with me until you can join a new collective, Borg. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must find an exit to the outside."

He gently laid her down because despite her claims to be able to sit up, she was obviously weak and in need of medical treatment.

"Wait! You cannot open any of the external hatches while we're in space. Are you mad?"

He drew himself up to his full 6'2 height and responded in his typically disdaining and superior manner: "I'm not the one in the insane asylum, Borg. I'll have us out of here and safe in a blink of an eye. You'll see."

"Computer, alert Security. Intruder in cargo bay 2."

Sheldon whirled around, shocked at his new acquaintance's betrayal. "Now that was downright rude, Borg. I might reconsider my earlier offer of hearth and home. You may like this dark and dreary place but I much prefer the sunlight of California. Perhaps I shall visit you if it is permitted once I contact the proper authorities and this place is back in the hands of the medical staff."

He spent too much time gabbing away and making himself the center of attention as usual. Two security crewmembers materialized in the cargo bay and one of them shot him with a phaser set on stun.

* * *

When Sheldon awoke, he had a horrible headache and a matching taste in his mouth. His field of vision was filled with the face of the EMH who was not smiling as he had been before.

"Here, Dr. Cooper, drink this. It will help with the headache and cottony mouth. Now, don't try to deactivate me. Your computer privileges have been revoked. Once you are feeling human again, the Captain wants to see you in her ready room. She's not in a good mood. Mind your manners."

"Where is Borg? She requires medical attention. You monsters had her hooked up to some horrible torture device. The poor thing suffered terribly."

"Borg? Oh, you mean Seven of Nine. We don't call her Borg. It's impolite." The doctor seemed very protective of Borg unless Sheldon was totally misreading his expression.

"She told me that that was her name – Borg. She said 'I am Borg' when I asked her name."

"Seven can be very literal. She's adapting quite well to her situation. And that 'torture device' you spoke of keeps her alive, Dr. Cooper. She requires a period of regeneration to keep her Borg components properly functioning. Without it, she will die."

"Now, if you're feeling better, I'll summon security to escort you to the captain's ready room, Dr. Cooper."

* * *

Whatever was in the liquid he'd ingested worked because his headache was gone as was the revolting taste in his mouth. He wished he could brush his teeth and floss. And wash his hands. And apologize to Borg. It was never his intention to cause her harm and he felt badly for misreading the situation.

"I should apologize to her. This social construct is alien to me and I had no idea my misguided attempts to assist her would cause her harm. If you see her…"

"Yes, by all means. You should apologize. It will be a first for her - a human being apologizing to her for his actions. I wish to be present when you do so that I may observe her reaction. It should be fascinating to see how she responds."

"Hmm, no doubt. Well, summon the gendarmerie, Leonard, and let's get this over with."

"Leonard? You called me 'Leonard'. Why?" The doctor looked uncertain for the first time since Sheldon had met him.

"You lack a 'personal designation' so now you have one. You remind me of Leonard – so uncertainly certain of just about everything."

"Leonard. I like it. Thank you, Dr. Cooper." The EMH was smiling like an idiot and Sheldon silently muttered _'Bazinga!'_

Two big men from security entered the sick bay and each took Sheldon by an elbow and led him out into the corridor.

"Good day, Dr. Cooper. Remember to mind your manners with the captain."

The EMH busied himself with minor details. He was smiling and it broadened when the sick bay doors opened and Seven of Nine walked in.

"Hello, Seven. You just missed Dr. Cooper. He wishes to apologize to you for interrupting your regeneration cycle. He thought you were being tortured."

"I do not require an 'apology' since no harm was done." There was a distinct haughtiness in her manner that turned most humans 'off' when they first met her.

"Where is this Dr. Cooper and how did he come to be on Voyager? He left _these_ in my quarters." She dumped his helmet, rifle and messenger bag on the bio-bed recently vacated by Sheldon.

"It's really a remarkable story, Seven. It seems that our young Dr. Cooper is considerably older than he appears to be. And he's from Earth!"

She raised one elegant eyebrow and looked at the Doctor, suddenly interested in hearing his story. She remembered his comment regarding her 'new' collective and his offer of 'home and hearth'. She almost regretted summoning security, almost.

A/N: Thanks for reading. So far 87 brave souls have hit this. Kinda sad, really.

Reparata

6/28/2012


	3. A New Paradigm

OK, here's the deal: 78 hits on the last chapter and if this one craters, and I know there's nothing YOU can do about it, then I'm truncating the story and bailing as it's a lost cause.

Thanks for the reviews and the hits, all 78 of you. I guess shamy wins again. Or lenny. I hate lenny or plenard.

* * *

Taken 3

Kathryn Janeway sat at her workstation reviewing reports. There were reports from Engineering, Astrometrics, Housekeeping, Weapons, Accounting, Stores, every damned micro unit in the complex animal that was _Voyager_.

And now she had to deal with the appearance of the Harvester Probe and its occupant. Janeway grimaced when she remembered the battle cry that had greeted the assembled crew when the probe released its containment buffer and this 'Cooper' made his appearance.

'Thank God it was paint and not a primitive projectile from that era. Still, Security responded with the appropriate degree of force and it had only taken a few moments for the EMH to clear my vision.'

Her door chimed and she glanced at the monitor and smirked. Her visitor from the Dark Ages. She ordered a tea service from the Replicator and then released the door lock and bade her visitor in with a wave of her hand and a friendly smile.

"Welcome to the Starship _Voyager_, Dr. Cooper. I'm Captain Katheryn Janeway. Please sit down. I'm having tea."

"I – I thought this was a mental institution at first. Now I'm convinced of it. What have you done with the doctors and nurses who run this place? You know that if any harm has come to them it will not go well for you."

Janeway almost laughed at the thin man standing in front of her. He seemed so sure of himself and so condescending. She decided to settle his hash once and for all.

"Computer, details on Dr. Sheldon Cooper of Earth, circa 2010, please." There was brief pause and then:

'_Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, born 1980, State of Texas, United States of America. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014 for his research and discoveries in the field of subatomic particles, specifically, the monopole. The award was posthumous. Dr. Cooper disappeared in 2012 and declared legally dead in 2014 leaving no known kin to survive him.'_

Sheldon flopped down in a chair shocked and appalled. He'd won the Nobel Prize but only after he'd disappeared. The one thing in life, his Holy Grail, and he missed it. He was bitterly disappointed.

"Doctor Cooper, are you all right? Perhaps some tea?" She could see the tears in his eyes and prepared herself for a breakdown.

"Yes. Yes, a hot beverage. I – I don't know what to say. I'm…I'm dead. I won the Nobel Prize but I'm dead. The irony is disturbing. Wait, if I'm dead, was my mother right? Is there a Supreme Being and this is His idea of the Hell she threatened me with?"

Janeway laughed but then quickly apologized. "Sorry, Doctor, but some of the crew often think they're in Hell. Let me tell you some things and then we'll discuss your future and options."

Sheldon sipped his tea and nodded. "Earl Grey with just a hint of mint. I don't believe I've ever tasted this particular blend."

"It's a problem with the Replicators. Apparently some things can't be replicated as precisely as the human taste buds require by brand. You should taste what it does to barbeque sauce."

They sipped their tea, each eyeing the other with speculation.

"Dr. Cooper, you were 'collected' by a Harvester Probe and you've been in stasis for 453 years. We intercepted the probe as it exited a wormhole we were observing. When we brought it onboard, it followed its programs and…well, for you the time spent in atoms wasn't felt or realized and you continued on with your last actions – you shot me with paint – twice!"

"Oh, dear, how dreadful! I hope you weren't injured. I was engaged in sniping at a member of the Engineering Team as a signal to trip our ambush. I'm sorry for assaulting you, Ms. Janeway. It was purely unintentional."

"It's 'Captain' or 'Ma'am', Dr. Cooper. And I just glad your militia wasn't using live ammunition. Now, tell me all about Sheldon Cooper and what life was really like back then in 2012. Our records of day-to-day life immediately before and after the War are fragmented except for history, of course, preserved in libraries, and not many of those survived the bombs and disorder that followed."

"The War? What war? The world was in a relatively peaceful period. There were religious factions warring against one another and the West in general but all the major powers seemed to be in balance, each with more to lose than gain in the event of war."

"Sadly, that balance was disrupted by a rogue state that initiated hostilities against the 'Nuclear Powers' as we've come to know them and each thought the other had attacked and…well, the rest is our history. But for now, tell me all about Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD and winner of the Nobel Prize. Why were you engaged in militia activities? Did you survive the War?"

"Militia activities? No! It was a paintball tournament and my team was in 2nd place. It was hardly military – it was a painful game of Capture the Flag."

"Go on. So you aren't a soldier?" She hadn't thought so but looks were often deceiving.

Sheldon loved talking about Sheldon Cooper and after rambling on for 30 minutes, the Captain suppressed a yawn and interrupted his monologue regarding the elusive monopole and String Theory.

"Dr. Cooper, this is all very fascinating but I do have a ship to run. Now, return to sick bay for a physical and then, since you're our only physicist aboard, I'll arrange for you to have the guided tour of the ship and then we'll talk about where you'll fit in best in our little 'asylum'."

Sheldon knew he'd been dismissed and nodded and then was escorted from the Captain's ready room to the sick bay where the Doctor would be waiting for him.

* * *

"Well, still in one piece, I see! Bravo, Dr. Cooper, bravo! Now, let's see how your innards are and then we'll have to see what inoculations you require. It wouldn't do to have the oldest man onboard succumb to some nasty virus or bacterium like Zyponium Pustules or Andorian Wheezing Sickness."

"Shots?" Sheldon started backing up towards the sick bay exit and the EMH knew he'd found an Achilles' heel worth exploiting.

"Oh, come now, Dr. Cooper, we do things differently here in the 25th Century. 'Replicator, a 100cc syringe with a 12 bore needle', please. We'll give you all 22 inoculations at once. That should do it, I think, don't you, Dr. Cooper?"

The EMH walked over to the Replicator and withdrew the huge syringe and needle and Sheldon passed out…and awoke on the bio-bed again with the Doctor staring down at him again, but this time with a big grin.

"While you were 'sleeping' I took advantage of you and brought your inoculations up to date." He held up a small device and smirked. "_This_ is how we apply medications in the 25th Century, Dr. Cooper. There is no invasive methodology performed in _my_ sick bay."

Sheldon glanced over at the nearest bio-bed and saw Borg – er – Seven of Nine, lying there while some automated gizmos performed what looked like _invasive_ surgeries on the poor young woman's face.

"That looks _invasive_ to me, Leonard," Sheldon carped, actually concerned about his only real acquaintance on board _Voyager._

The EMH sighed and said, "Well, some of her Borg implants require 'tuning up', although I'd much prefer simply removing them but we don't know enough about them to do so safely. Her Borg components constantly try and take over her human functions and it's like her body is at war with itself. Poor child."

"She said that she'd been 'severed from her collective' and I pretended to understand but I've hardly a clue. A 'collective'. Is that some new social grouping? And why is she…oh, my. She's a cybernetic organism, isn't she? Those doohickeys on her face and neck, those are cybernetic components, correct? As in cyBORG?"

"Dr. Cooper, surely you don't think less of Seven simply because she had the misfortune to be assimilated at an early age by the Borg, do you? Prejudice is not tolerated aboard Voyager although most of the crew either resent her or are afraid of her. No one wants to be alone with Seven. Few even associate with her unless required by their duties."

"I'm not totally unfamiliar with that situation, Doctor, but why? I thought in nearly 500 years people would have lost their petty prejudices."

"The Borg…the Borg are an alien group that take over entire planets and systems, absorbing the inhabitants into their Hive Mind and assimilating their technology with their own. The individual is no more; only the Collective, the Hive Mind, remains."

"Fascinating. And the Borg all know what each knows and collectively all that knowledge available…the scientific secrets they must possess…"

"Yes, and 'possess' is the correct word. They are like scavengers, a plague of locust in more than Biblical proportion. They take everyone they encounter without mercy, without concern for the individual, and when they're done, all are Borg. You know what they say, Dr. Cooper?"

Sheldon was still dazzled by the concept of a Hive Mind, the loss of individuality and the advances that a collective mind, focused and without the encumbrance of emotion, could make in the sciences.

"Um, what? Um, no, Leonard."

"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. We are Borg."

Neither of them noticed that Seven of Nine was conscious and listening, processing…plotting.

"Doctor, do people still eat in the 26th Century? I'm exceedingly hungry, not having eaten since 2012."

"Ah, a sense of humor. Good one, Dr. Cooper. Let me have someone escort your to the mess hall."

"I'm not ravenous yet, Doctor. I'll wait and we can go together." He really didn't feel comfortable meeting new people and the Doctor was the only one he actually knew. Seven of Nine would never tolerate his company after he'd almost killed her.

"Dr. Cooper, that's a kind thought but…holograms don't require sustenance and besides which, I cannot leave the sick bay. My programming has not been extended to allow me to venture forth from this, my domain."

"Fascinating. They keep you here, locked away until they need you and they keep Borg, drat, Seven of Nine, in a cargo bay lest she infect them or something and then wonder why she yearns to return to her collective? And these people consider themselves 'enlightened'?"

"Well, I suppose it does appear to be that way but Captain Janeway – "

"Don't try and excuse how they treat Bor – damn it - Seven of Nine. It's hypocritical at best, cruel at worst. I know about hypocrisy and cruelty, Leonard, because I've experienced them first hand. Being 'different', not fitting into the mold, being out of step with the masses; oh yes, I know exactly how Seven of Nine feels. She's One of One now and trying to keep it together and none of you seem to give a damn!"

"Dr. Cooper, you're becoming overwrought. Perhaps the shock of knowing that everyone you ever knew, everyone you ever loved, is now dead and gone and yet here you are, has unraveled you. Yes, perhaps a sedative…"

Seven had listened carefully to Dr. Sheldon Cooper's 'rant'. She didn't think he'd spoken anything other than the truth, and decided to intervene. She was familiar with the Doctor's sedatives. She got off the bio-bed and stood, glaring at the Doctor.

"Computer, end EMH program." The look on the Doctor's face was a combination of betrayal and anxiety but it was short-lived since he disappeared.

Seven turned to Sheldon and gave him a tight-lipped smile like those she'd received, not knowing any better. "Dr. Sheldon Cooper, I will escort you to the mess hall and sit with you while you obtain sustenance. Your lack of familiarity with this environment and crew will undoubtedly get you killed."

"No, Seven of Nine. I don't want you to feel obligated and I certainly don't want you putting yourself ill at ease on my account. I'm used to being the 'odd man out', and I've learned to ignore the looks and whispers and all that comes with the role."

"I see. Perhaps it would be best if you distanced yourself from the Borg since you obviously will have enough to deal with simply finding your mouth with the fork." She took his concern for her as something else and she reacted rather than responding.

"Well, you certainly have little difficulty finding your mouth with your foot. I'll not inflict myself upon you a nanosecond more. Good day, Seven of Nine." He looked at her for just a second longer and then spun on his heel and almost ran from the sick bay.

And stopped dead in his tracks in the corridor. _'No! No more running away from reality. This is a new beginning, a clean slate for me and I'll not waste one second in flight.'_

Seven of Nine looked up when the door to the sick bay opened up and in strode Dr. Cooper. She wasn't good at reading human facial expressions, never having had the need, but she understood this one easily enough – determination.

"Seven of Nine, join me. We both have much to learn about social constructs and having another sharing the task will make it easier. Would you please accompany me to the, um, the…"

"The mess hall, Dr. Cooper. Yes. What you say is logical although I don't feel the need to interact with the crew…"

"This is your new collective, Seven of Nine, as it is now mine. I can't…everyone I've ever known…gone. We must both start over. A new paradigm for each of us."

"What you propose is logical and I will comply. You should also see the Quartermaster for a replicator clothing allowance unless it is acceptable in your culture to have large portions of one's gluteus maximus exposed."

"Ah, humor. Well done. For a moment there – "

He yelped when a cold fingertip ran down the center of his left butt cheek.

"Borg have no sense of humor, Dr. Sheldon Cooper." He wasn't sure but he thought he saw the slightest twinkle in her eye and the right corner of her mouth twitch ever so slightly.


	4. Stranger than Fiction

Talked to my honey-pot last night for a bit on Skype's milchan. He's so tanned and it's so damned hot over there. He's road-running and having a ball or so he says. He looks tired and worried and that means I'm worried. Even Alexander knew better than to get involved with the Afghans. Damn politicians. Anyhooooo...

Thank you all for your encouragement. Like I said, it's finished although there may be a change depending upon responses but that's like 17 chapters away so don't worry about reader participation.

Reparata

* * *

Taken Chapter 4

Seven of Nine explained that the _Voyager_ followed a 4-shift ship-day and that Alpha shift was the first with Gamma shift the last. It was Gamma shift and most of the crew were in quarters asleep and that explained why the ship seemed deserted.

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper, there are 184 officers and crew aboard _Voyager_ although that may change if you decide to remain on board. Have you given thought to your predicament?"

"I've hardly had a moment to do much other than take in all the wondrous technology and the ship itself. Other than the Captain and Leonard, you're the only person I've had any interaction with and I'm sorry for misconstruing things in your cargo bay. And please, 'Dr. Sheldon Cooper' is such a mouthful, I answer to 'Sheldon' or 'Shel', Bor – I mean, Seven of Nine. I must stop referring to you as 'Borg' even though that was what you told me your name was. 'I am Borg', you stated firmly and clearly."

Seven noted that he referred to her as a 'person' and she wondered if he really understood what the doctor had inferred when he explained the existence and methodology of the Borg. And who was 'Leonard'?

"Sheldon, yes, easier and I don't believe the ship's complement includes a 'Sheldon'. Who is 'Leonard'?"

They were almost to the mess deck and Seven had slowed their pace to allow him to answer her questions without anyone overhearing the answers. Borg were a paranoid lot and she wanted unique information should it become necessary to employ it.

"The EMH. He explained that he didn't have a personal designation and so I gave him one. 'Leonard' is – _was_ – my best friend before I was harvested." It was slowly dawning on him that there was no way back to his own time and that _Voyager_ was his new home barring the revelation that they had time travel in the 26th Century.

"Interesting. He will be insufferably pleased with himself, you know. He is always right and even when he isn't, he twists circumstances to explain his 'error' so that the fault is not his."

Sheldon blushed when he remembered the Physics Bowl and the cricket incidents. He and the EMH had more in common than he had with others.

"So, Seven of Nine, what do you do here on _Voyager_? Someone with your unique perspective and scientific knowledge and familiarity with cybernetics must be in high demand."

"I developed the Astrometrics function and that is where I perform daily tasks as well as assist where my talents are needed. As you can imagine, my presence among the crew is not exactly 'comforting'. It is in the area immediately adjacent to my cargo bay quarters."

"Would you have the time to explain what you do? My friend Rajeesh Koothrappalli was an Astrophysicist but I regret not learning more about what he did."

"That would be acceptable. I must be on duty in 97 minutes and if you hurry consuming Neelix' offerings and find appropriate clothing, I will have sufficient time to introduce you to the fundamentals of Astrometrics."

"I couldn't help but notice that your attire is radically different from the others. Why aren't you wearing a uniform like the others?"

"I require augmentation that is present in my Borg skin-suit. The EMH told me he was developing something that would be less visually disconcerting to the crew."

"If it meets your needs, Seven of Nine, then to hell with the sensitivities of others. At least your gluteus maximii are encased, unlike mine, as you so correctly pointed out. This coverall has seen better days. I must have torn it in my haste to assume the proper ambush position." He remembered Penny once telling him that he was getting a little thread-bare on the backside.

Seven said nothing further and Sheldon wisely assumed she courted no further inquiries. He found it much easier to deal with Leonard and Seven of Nine than 'normal' people since they spoke clearly, succinctly and employed logic as opposed to emotion. Not having facial expressions to deal with also made life easier. He didn't have to wonder what the 'pinched look' Penny almost always had after being with Leonard meant, for example. Yes, definitely easier.

The plain black coverall that Sheldon wore now was both utilitarian and comfortable as were the boots that he'd been issued to replace his sneakers. It was a perfect fit and Seven of Nine had shown him how to 'recycle' it and retrieve a new pair daily. He mentally checked off 'clothing' on his list of requirements.

* * *

When they entered the mess hall, Seven of Nine turned and said, "Tom Paris and B'elanna Torres are at that far table, Dr. Cooper. I shall see you in Astrometrics. Enjoy your breakfast." She was suddenly ill at ease and he wasn't comfortable with facing new people alone.

"You are uncomfortable around those two? Then we shall not sit with them. I'd rather eat undisturbed by what I am sure will be questions that will interrupt my meal and delay us touring Astrometrics. Please, Seven of Nine, I'd rather have your company."

"I will…comply. Our ship's cook is a Tellaxian and is quite garrulous. No doubt he will talk your hand off, Sheldon."

"Ear, Seven of Nine. The phrase is 'talk your ear off' although I've never quite gotten the hand of slang. Or sarcasm, either. Thank you for your warning."

Warned or not, Sheldon felt himself grow light headed when Neelix, 'the last of his race', grabbed his hand and pumped it up and down and side to side. "Greetings, Dr. Cooper, and welcome to Voyager. Would you like to try my Gorth soup for breakfast?"

Sheldon never shook hands and to actually be touched by someone who remotely resembled a bipedal fish and felt almost as bad was truly disconcerting. Seven of Nine stepped in on his behalf.

"Neelix, Dr. Cooper will try the Gorth soup if it not harmful to humans as was your C'parcian gruel. Half of Delta shift was in sick bay if you remember."

"I assure you that the Doctor himself analyzed the ingredients and pronounced them compatible with the human digestive system. I'll bring a bowl out to your table." He didn't bother to ask the young woman for her order. She rarely ate anything from his kitchen, preferring Replicator rations.

They were barely seated when Neelix brought Sheldon his soup and utensils and then hovered over him peppering him with questions.

The first spoonful of the soup was – interesting. And spicy. Beads of sweat began to form on his upper lip and forehead and he tried to remember the last time he'd tasted –

"Well, what have we here? Have the Borg sent us another drone or have you assembled a little companion from your spare parts as a substitute for your precious collective."

Torres hated Seven of Nine because she hated the Borg. Seven was Borg and therefore she hated her. It was a simple thing to the half-Klingon. She ignored her companion's attempts to pull her away from the couple seated at the table.

Sheldon was seated across from his blonde guide and saw a flicker of anguish cross her features before she schooled them. Neelix was prattling on about their new 'crewmember' but Sheldon was focused on Seven. He knew ridicule and cruelty. This was obviously a common occurrence for Seven and he felt the need to intercede on her behalf and so he stood, glaring down at the smaller Torres.

"I would have thought that in 500 years things might have changed, Seven of Nine. I think we should be on our way to Astrometrics." He wanted her to know that he shared and understood her discomfort. The being insulting her reminded him of Leslie Winkle.

"Neelix, the soup was delicious. I've rarely tasted 'chili' this good since leaving Texas. You might want to add a bit more chili powder to raise it to '4-alarm' levels, but otherwise, it was very good. I'll have to show you how to make corn bread to go with it. Let's go, Seven."

"Running away, G'rack?" Something clicked in Sheldon's mind and he reeled with the possible implications of his discovery. This Torres woman had just referred to him by the Klingon name for a rat-like pest found on the Klingon home world – but that was in fiction…

"Hab Sosil' Quch! You don't even know me and yet you insult me without the customary introduction of your name and your lineage. You are beneath us and certainly more G'rack-like than I. NaDevvo' ylghoS!"

B'elanna paled at the insult but also knew that she'd stepped on it big-time. This human spoke Klingon with ease and an obvious sense of history. There was more to this than she knew and she hated being out-insulted. It was her _father_ not her mother that had a smooth forehead. She bit her tongue rather than apologize and turned to her companion and simply smirked and then left the mess hall.

Neelix was all a-twitter at Sheldon's smack-down of the Chief Engineer. Her tone had been insulting and he always felt that she looked down on others. He was glad he'd been a witness to what happened else he would never have believed it.

Rather than grateful, Seven was suddenly wary of Sheldon. He was from the past, pre-First Contact, and yet he knew enough about Klingons to speak their language and traditions, and to safely deliver a deadly insult!

Sheldon caught the shrewd look Seven gave him and cursed himself for opening his mouth. There was something not right here. Had he finally lost his mind? Was he imagining all of this?

"If you are finished, Dr. Cooper, perhaps we could move along? I have my duties to attend to and they don't include 'tour guide'." Her tone was waspish and again he thought of Leslie Winkle but just nodded and followed the blonde woman out into the corridor.

He hurried to catch up with her. She seemed vexed by something but if there was one thing Penny had taught him it was that women were to be avoided during this time of the month although he had no idea if Borg even had monthly cycles given their propensity for efficiency aided by technology. He was, however, silent on the question deeming it unworthy of his fledgling relationship with Seven of Nine.

Seven's thoughts were chaotic. She'd been presented with a being from Earth's pre-contact society and yet he had a working knowledge of Klingon culture and language. This was a mystery and the Borg culture did not embrace mysteries lightly.

* * *

A similar argument was being presented to Captain Janeway even as Sheldon and Seven walked to the Astrometrics lab.

"B'elanna, it's not that I don't believe that _you_ believe you heard him speak in Klingon but…really, Dr. Cooper is from 2012. I saw him materialize from the Harvester Probe's buffer myself. The computer correctly summarized his personal history and believe me, the affect on him was no act. No. I will not have him put in quarantine just because you think he spoke to you in Klingon. It's just not possible and I think your enmity towards Seven of Nine is at the root of it."

"I'm _not _imagining it. He insulted me and then called me out in the traditional manner for being rude and he did so…just like a Klingon warrior would. It was very intimidating. I'm telling you, Captain, he's not who he says he is…"

After much discussion, Tuvok volunteered to meet with Sheldon Cooper and determine what he could of the validity of the man's tale. Personally, he was of the opinion that anyone who associated as freely as this Dr. Cooper did with Seven of Nine knew nothing of the Borg and their assimilation campaigns. He and Chakotay had been on an away mission when the Harvester Probe was recovered. As security chief, he felt it was his duty to the ship and crew to determine if the visitor posed a risk.

"Computer, what is the location of Dr. Sheldon Cooper?" Tuvok inquired of the computer.

"Unknown." Janeway frowned and remembered that he hadn't been issued a com badge yet. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in Astrometrics." Janeway raised an eyebrow and Tuvok left for Astrometrics.

* * *

Astrometrics

"And that is how we determine our precise progress towards Earth. My duties include mapping the systems and phenomena around us as we make our way to Earth. It is an exacting task requiring the utmost in precision. I also control Voyager's deep space communications although no one seems to be on the other end."

"How far is _Voyager_ from Earth?" He wanted to see his home, even 500 years later than when he left.

"Approximately 66.8 terrestrial years at current warp speed. However, that number is constantly in flux since _Voyager_ is a deep space exploration vehicle and the captain insists on various detours to view interesting anomalies. We also search for systems that show signs of sentient life so that we may trade for raw materials."

They are interrupted by the arrival of Commander Tuvok who starts to speak but then is puzzled by Dr. Cooper's sudden joy at seeing him.

"My word, you're _Vulcan!"_ Sheldon Cooper exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. He held up his hand in a familiar way and clearly enunciated "**_Mene sakkhet ur-seveh_**".

"Indeed," responded Tuvok with a raised eyebrow.


	5. House Arrest

I'll continue to post.

* * *

Taken – Chapter 5

_They are interrupted by the arrival of Commander Tuvok who starts to speak but then is puzzled by Dr. Cooper's sudden joy at seeing him._

"_My word, you're Vulcan!" Sheldon Cooper exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. He held up his hand in a familiar way and clearly enunciated "_**_Mene sakkhet ur-seveh_**_"._

"_Indeed," responded Tuvok with a raised eyebrow._

* * *

"My word, it's true what I've always maintained." His broad grin made it difficult for him to form labial sounds but somehow he managed.

"And what might that be, Dr. Sheldon Cooper?" Tuvok's eyebrow crawled even higher up his forehead.

"Why, that today's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact." He did not elaborate. His mind was reeling with possibilities. _'Is Doctor Who just around the corner in the next nebulae hovering around in his taurus? Were Klingons and Vulcans on Earth before the formal First Contact?_

"You speak Vulcan and, I'm told, passable Klingon. How is that possible for a man from the pre-First Contact period? Unless, of course, you're lying."

Umbrage raw and impulsive colored Sheldon's face. "I do not lie. I cannot lie. It's impossible for me to lie, or dissemble, or, unfortunately as Leonard has found out and used against me constantly, keep a secret."

"Then humor me, Dr. Cooper, if that's who you are, and tell me just how you know so much about us when we knew nothing of you until you conveniently emerged from the wormhole."

"Television. A man named Gene Roddenberry wrote fiction that was later developed for television in 1966 called Star Trek and it featured the captain and crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise. It took place in the future. Star Trek taught many of us all about altruism and how to deal with issues like war and peace, the value of personal loyalty, and morality tales centering around **authoritarianism**, **imperialism**, class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, **sexism**, feminism, and the role of technology."

"Computer, prepare an in-depth background analysis of Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Gene Rod – what did you say his name was?"

"Roddenberry. But – " Tuvok held up a hand to stop him from prattling on and continued his instructions. "…Gene Roddenberry and any and all references to Klingon and Vulcan in both popular fiction and the broadcast media and seal it under my authorization."

Sheldon smirked and then said, "Ah, the 25th Century's equivalent of the FBI. Well, Mr. Vulcan, you cannot suppress the truth. 'The truth is out there' as Fox Mulder often said. The 'right to know', nay, the 'need' to know will far outweigh the petty bureaucracy's attempts to suppress it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but I am responsible for ship's security and you, Doctor, present a potential threat to the ship and therefore will be confined to the brig until the information I requested has been gathered and analyzed."

Tuvok tapped his com badge and said, "Security team to Astrometrics." Then he looked at Sheldon who was looking at Seven of Nine.

"Seven, I understand now. I was so wrong and I find that almost unacceptable. The minds of the 25th Century are, indeed, just as small and parochial as were those in power in my own time. Keep that in mind."

"Commander Tuvok, perhaps you have been rash in your judgment. I propose paroling Dr. Cooper to my custody. I will guarantee that he both learns about the ship and stays away from those areas you deem 'sensitive', while answering any and all questions I might put to him."

There was a period of awkward silence as Sheldon's gaze battled with that of Commander Tuvok. Tuvok felt a buzzing in his ears and blinked rapidly and Sheldon simply smiled his Jokeresque grin. He'd been trying to blow up the head of the Vulcan with the powers of his mind and took the rapid blinking as a sign of some measure of success.

Seven never looked at Sheldon, just stared at Tuvok in that focused manner unique to her.

"That – that seems reasonable and logical. I must leave and see the EMH immediately. He is your responsibility. I will advise Captain Janeway of his status and – and I must go."

He stopped and turned, feeling better after putting some distance between himself and the strange gangly visitor from the 21st Century. He reached into his tunic and tossed Sheldon a com badge and then said, "Computer, recognize Dr. Sheldon Cooper as authorized to use com badge #A-62. Monitor his movements and alert security if he strays unaccompanied into restricted areas or if Seven of Nine is more than 5 meters distance from him."

The doors swooshed closed behind him leaving Sheldon and Seven of Nine together but farther apart than ever before.

"That was…not what I expected. Petty minds and bureaucracy seem to be fleas on the human animal no matter how advanced the civilization is technologically. Disappointing, to say the least."

"Since I am now responsible for your conduct, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, I suppose I must abandon my tasks and escort you everywhere you wish to go."

"Not at all. If you will provide writing implements and paper, I can work on the solutions to my theorem. Although I can visualize everything in my mind, it is comforting to do it on paper. It gives one a sense of permanence."

"That is acceptable. Here, this is a padd. Use it to imput your calculations using the stylus. Should you require sanitary facilities, they are just behind you on the left." Seven pointed to an alcove behind him and then returned to her workstation and began pressing various locations on her input station.

* * *

Sheldon's stylus flowed easily across the padd and he felt the comfort of mathematics surround him. In a purely mathematical world, things were totally black or white, right or wrong. It appealed to him on many levels. The formulae to prove his basic theorems flowed just as easily as the stylus.

Seven glanced periodically at the display that repeated Sheldon's calculations. Her esteem for her charge increased as she watched complex equations and formulae appear almost magically and she felt a sudden kinship with the strange tall man but shook it off as a by-product of propinquity, nothing more.

Sheldon's stomach growled and he glanced at his watch, surprised that so much time had passed since his introduction to Neelix' version of '4-alarm chili'. He hated to bother the blonde Borg but he was hungry and when his blood sugar levels dropped, well, a cranky Sheldon was not a pleasant companion.

"Seven of Nine, when it is convenient, could you please escort me to the mess hall. I'm hungry." He tried not to sound too needy. He was, after all, _Homo Novis_, and should be above such things.

"Use the Replicator on the wall behind you. I assure you that I have sufficient ration credits remaining to allow you to request whatever you desire."

Sotto voce, he whispered to himself_, 'I want to be sitting at Penny's table while she whips up her special spaghetti with those little hotdog slices and her signature garlic bread, that's what I desire.'_

Seven's hearing was every bit as acute as Sheldon's and she heard the wistfulness in his voice and felt a frisson of guilt and envy sweep through her before she ruthlessly crushed it as a good Borg would.

"Use the Replicator, Sheldon. It might not be up to your 'Penny' standards but I'm sure it will satisfy your nutritional needs."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to vocalize my thoughts and further disturb you." He got up and went to the Replicator and placed his very specific request and as an afterthought, "and Lemonade, please, with one teaspoon of sugar and three icecubes."

The meal was acceptable only because Sheldon was sure that 'human hands', he'd have to amend that to 'human hands, in human hands, tentacles, whatever', did not touch his food. Over all it was bland although the lemonade was satisfactory.

He dumped the remains in the recycler and returned to his seat and his padd. He was in uncharted waters now, mathematically speaking, and theory required an algorythm that he just could quite seem to grasp but it would come, if he could remain undisturbed for a few more hours…

"Tuvok to Dr. Cooper. Have Seven of Nine escort you to the captain's ready room immediately."


	6. The Long Road to Acceptance

Hopefully this chapter will answer a lot of your questions and put paid to rumors that I'm crazy. lol

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 5B

"_Tuvok to Dr. Cooper. Have Seven of Nine escort you to the captain's ready room immediately."_

"Drat! I just needed a few more hours of undisturbed thought to work through the final algorythm! I'm sorry, Seven of Nine, to disturb your work. I'm sure I'll be able to make my way to the captain's ready room since I've been there once before."

He stood and approached the door but stopped when Seven of Nine grabbed his upper arm and whirled him around.

"I am responsible for you and I do not take my responsibilities lightly. The order specifically said I was to escort you, and I shall." Her voice had lost almost all of its human tenor and sounded almost mechanical.

"As you wish. I was simply trying to be courteous and allow you to finish your tasks undisturbed. Lead on, Seven of Nine." Two could play the harsh voice game and Sheldon was a master at inserting disdain in his speech, something Seven was quick to pick up on.

"If you thought me rude, you were mistaken. I simply will not have you wandering around _Voyager_ unescorted, Dr. Sheldon Cooper. You would get lost in a few minutes and then I'd have to find you and waste more time."

"Seven, follow _me_ to the Captain's ready room. If I get lost then you'll be right there to point me in the right direction – but I won't."

He walked out with Seven hurrying to catch him. His long strides suggested anger to Seven and she was surprised when he unerringly found the captain's ready room and paused outside and winked at her.

"I have eidetic memory, Seven of Nine. I can remember everything that has ever happened to me, good or bad, since I was three years old. I never get lost if I've been someplace before."

His smug countenance made her want to assimilate him and make him work in the sludge farm found on every Borg Cubeship. Perhaps that would teach him humility but she suppressed the urge to inject nanites into his carotid and just motioned him onwards.

* * *

The door whooshed open and Sheldon found himself facing a 'court of inquiry' or so he supposed since there were several officers sitting around a conference table where Captain Janeway held sway.

"Be seated, Dr. Cooper. Seven, you may go. I'll have someone escort him to his quarters. He's no longer your responsibility as he is no longer deemed a security risk."

"I'd like her to stay, if you don't mind, Captain. She is the closest thing I have to an 'advocate' or friend aboard your ship and I'd feel better if she were here."

"As you wish. Seven, be seated. Now, Dr. Cooper, do you remember our earlier conversation?"

Seven held back a slight smirk. Sheldon remembered everything.

"Yes, Captain. And I have made a discovery in the interim. When I was 'harvested' in July, 2012, I had not yet completed my work on the monopole and, in fact, it's existence had yet to be proven."

"Well, Dr. Cooper, that's hardly rel – "

"'_Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014 for his research and discoveries in the field of subatomic particles, specifically, the monopole.' _That was the precise wording your computer used in my 'history'. So either this is a different time-line or…I made it back to 2012 and completed my work and then it got published."

There was visible consternation among the officers seated at the table. And Seven of Nine interrupted their musings with "Computer, display the contents of Dr. Sheldon Cooper's padd in real time as it was entered."

The large screen on one wall lit and the officers watched as Sheldon's elegant but cramped script began writing complex formulae and equations and then slow and stop.

"That is the point at which Dr. Cooperwas interrupted by Commander Tuvok's summons," pointed out Seven of Nine.

"Those are the formulae that Zephram Cochran used to develop warp drive! But they aren't finished and we all know that Cochran used formulae found in a partially destroyed library to complete his work and launch the first warp-capable ship. It's what prompted the Vulcans to initiate First Contact!"

Harry Kim was intimately familiar with the work of Cochran. He'd done his thesis at the academy on the math behind the development of Earth's first warp drive. He was even familiar with the work of Dr. Sheldon Cooper whom many believed was the true 'father of warp drive'.

"Dr. Cooper, are you _certain_ that no one else but you could have found your work and completed it after your disappearance in July, 2012?"

"Absolutely. I kept all my computations on white boards in my apartment and I distinctly remember erasing them as I always did when I was planning on going out. It was a security precaution since my roommate, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, became enamored of a North Korean who turned out to be a spy and," he noted Janeway's eyes rolling as did Penny's when he was launching into some long monologue at an inappropriate time, " and that's not relevant."

"Perhaps this is a different time line, as Dr. Cooper first suggested. It would explain…"

"Yes, it would, but it wouldn't explain _him,"_ B'elanna Torres said, pointing at Sheldon. "I mean how he got here and – "

"I think the problem is simply solved: I have to return to my own time and complete the equations and publish them. The original work done at the Magnetic North Pole was sabotaged by my team, why, I don't know, but I did not publish my results because everything I did from that point on was suspect in the scientific community."

There was a lot of discussion about the equations and then Janeway brought the discussion to a halt. "Okay, people, let's get back on track. From everything that Tuvok has learned from the deep analysis done by the computer, this Gene Roddenberry was either from the future, our future, or was a member of the Progenitor Race."

"Impossible! The Progenitors have been dead for thousands and thousands of years. It must have been a time traveler from our future since we lack anything like time travel."

The discussion went back and forth and Sheldon listened in awe. The minds arrayed before him were sharp and focused and what he wouldn't have given to have worked or studied with such a group!

"Dr. Cooper, what are you thoughts on the matter? You've been very quiet…" Janeway was anxious to hear his analysis.

"I need to return to my own time, complete my research and publish it and then…disappear from all historical records and my return must be unheralded and I cannot allow my identity to be discovered. That in itself is a major problem since I lack funds and equipment to return alone to the Magnetic North Pole and complete my research. I have no idea how I'll deal with my existence after communicating my discoveries to the scientific community. Perhaps just do what the old Inupiat did - walk out into the icy wastes and let Nature take her course."

"And, in addition, there is the problem that time travel does not exist and we, that is, Voyager, are 66 solar years from Earth." This from Harry Kim who seemed the most agreeable of those seated around him.

"I think that's enough for now. Seven, Dr. Cooper has been assigned quarters on C deck and I'll have a crewman escort him to his quarters. You may return to your duties."

"Excuse me for just a moment, Captain." Sheldon followed Seven out of the ready cabin and touched her shoulder to get her attention.

"Seven, thank you for your help in there. I feel uncomfortable, like I'm abandoning you. Can we have dinner together and discuss your time with the Borg. I noticed that you appeared very smug when the subject of time travel came up so I think you know something you're not sharing with the class, am I right?"

"Meet me in Astrometrics at 2100 hours, Sheldon, and I'll answer your questions if you agree to answer all of mine. Are you in agreement?"

"Of course, Seven. I find you fascinating and I want to learn more about the Borg. I don't think they're such bad folk as the crew seems to believe. An orderly life with purpose and companionship of like-minded individuals appeals to me despite my hold on my individuality."

"Then I shall tell you all you wish to know in exchange for your answers. 2100 hours, Sheldon. Don't be late."

"I shall be there."

* * *

[[[[[A/N: Ooooo, Sheldon's going on a date with Seven of Nine…or so he thinks.]]]]]

* * *

Harry Kim talked incessantly while accompanying Sheldon to his quarters. How did he like being on _Voyager_? Had much changed? What things were the same? What did he find most interesting?

Sheldon tried to hide his amusement at Harry's questions. He rarely seemed to pause for a breath between explaining some facet of _Voyager_ or asking a question.

He employed a 'Pennyism' and asked Harry to pause, take a chill pill and give him time to respond.

"Harry, take a chill pill and a deep breath and I'll answer your questions in the order presented, okay? Now, I like being here. On a starship, I mean. I'm not sure I like the 25th Century but I've only been here a few hours. Harry, _everything_ has changed. The only thing that seems the same to me is the paranoia and suspicion of those in authority. As for most interesting, I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Uh, yeah, about the sense of paranoia: we've met many new species and races and sometimes the hand of friendship has a knife in it. There are some races who want _Voyager_ for it's technology while others want the crew for…for organs, or food, or slaves. I think your appearance was initially considered a threat and thus your reception."

"Well, shooting your captain in the face and heart with a paintball may have been initially viewed as hostile…" Sheldon laughed but then got very serious.

"Why does everyone treat Seven of Nine as if she were a virus or worse? For an enlightened people, the crew seemed to possess the same pettiness as in my time."

"Humph. You've never seen Borg drones take a ship apart and assimilate its crew. They are relentless and cruel and know no mercy. Do you know all they seem to be able to say? 'Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile'!"

"Surely they can be dealt with? Find common ground on which to build a friendship or at least an agreement not to mess with each other."

"Now who's being naïve? Dr. Cooper, no one has ever defeated the Borg. They are relentless and like a cancer that spreads and destroys everything and everyone in their path."

Sheldon didn't say anything since there was nothing he could say. He had no experience with the Borg or with any non-humans so he just went into wait-state hoping Harry would offer more information.

"Why are you so interested in the Borg, Dr. Cooper?" Harry wondered if the tall, thin man really understood what he'd been trying to get across to him.

"The only person other than the EMH who's been remotely tolerant of me is Seven of Nine. And I am fascinated by what she might reveal about the Borg and their ways. Has anyone ever sat down and asked her?"

"I tried. She brained me and then tried to sabotage the ship and call the Borg to retrieve her and assimilate the _Voyager_. Her one and only priority is to return to the Borg collective. It is her one imperative and she would do anything to accomplish it."

"Perhaps if people tried to accept her and assist her in rediscovering her humanity she might be more forthcoming about the secrets of the Borg and help _Voyager_ to get home sooner. She told me that the Borg have assimilated the technology and science of thousands of cultures."

Harry decided that Sheldon Cooper was a typical egg-head and had his head up his buttocks. He didn't seem to listen to anything negative and Harry figured he'd have to learn the hard way.

"Dr. Cooper, this is your place. The door is coded to your voice and everything you need is right at hand. Anything else?" He suddenly wanted to be anyplace but with Sheldon. His attitude sucked and maybe B'elanna was right about him.

"Just tell me how the shower works and how I can brush my teeth. It's been almost 5 centuries since I've showered, y'know?"

Harry explained everything and then almost fled from the small rooms. He wasn't sure, but there was something fishy about this guy that he just couldn't figure out. He would, eventually, but by then, it would be too late for all of them to stop what would happen.

Sheldon marveled at the sonic shower and the depilatory crème that Harry explained substituted for a razor. It had the added effect of moisturizing the skin and Sheldon was really big on moisturizing. The sonic toothbrush was delightful and he couldn't remember his teeth being so clean-feeling, even after having them cleaned by his dentist.

At precisely 2100 hours, Sheldon buzzed the door of Cargo Bay 2. Seven met him at the door and pointed down the corridor.

"We're going to have dinner on the holodeck and then I'm going to introduce you to the Borg way of life, Sheldon."

She watched his face carefully for any signs of fear or loathing and almost smiled when he smiled eagerly. She was reminded of...something…but couldn't put her finger on it. A memory fragment from before she became Borg.

Sheldon was full of questions as they walked down the corridor and took the turbolift to the holodeck.

She stopped at the entrance and stated, "Execute program Zeta-0332-Seven of Nine. Authentication alpha-delta-rho.

"Sheldon Cooper, remember, none of this is real. Do not fear. I will be with you every step of the way. Also remember," her voice was soft as she laid her fingertips on his neck and assimilation tubules sprang from her wrist, "resistant is futile."


	7. New Collective

Taken Chapter 6

Holodeck

Sheldon Cooper did not like to be touched and he cringed and stepped away from Seven's touch, even though he _liked_ it against all better judgment. He turned to face her and saw the assimilation tubules disappear into her wrist and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I – I was momentarily overcome with the need to assimilate you into my collective, Dr. Cooper. I'm – I'm sorry. It will not happen again. I can see you are repulsed and I believe it would be best to terminate this exercise."

"Seven, I do not like being touched. It is a thing from my childhood that I cannot overcome. It is not rejection or revulsion, and certainly not a rejection of _you_. Please, let us continue. I wish to learn more."

"Then will copulation occur? I was led to believe that is what human males want and expect according to the literature and databases I've queried. Am I in error?"

"Yes. No. I – don't know, Seven of Nine, never having experienced coitus. My experiences with the opposite sex, except for Penny's attempts at seduction while intoxicated, are virtually nonexistent. I prefer it this way, if you must know the truth. I wish to direct all my attention to my research and interpersonal relationships never seem to end well, if my observations are correct, and they undoubtedly are."

Seven's plans to assimilate Sheldon and form a new collective and hijack _Voyager_ and return to the Borg were shattered by his simple explanation. He was more Borg at times that she was. She wouldn't assimilate him against his will because without the ability to link to the hive mind, he'd maintain his individuality and his basic humanity, and she'd lose his cooperation.

No. There would be other opportunities in the future to have him willingly desire assimilation and she was patient. His presence beside her seemed to calm her and she found this disconcerting and worthy of further study. In the meantime, Seven began the program that put the couple inside a Borg Cube Ship.

Sheldon asked questions that were intelligent, incisive and Seven rarely had to explain some facet of Borg life twice. He seemed to have an innate grasp of the intricate balance maintained in a Borg Cube ship and she found herself asking questions about _his_ life on Old Earth and uncharacteristically smiling at his answers.

"So, Sheldon, this woman, this Penny? You were romantically involved? You must have been if she attempted to force copulation."

"Me? Romantically involved? Good heavens, no, Seven. Penny was the Big Ol' Five…a sexual aggressor. I doubt someone nearly as aesthetically pleasing as yourself would have any real interest in someone such as myself. I was just a convenient outlet for her horniness."

"Horniness? I'm unfamiliar with the term." She was also unfamiliar with flattery, even if Sheldon's was unintentional. Still, aesthetically pleasing? She filed it away for further study.

"An intense desire to have coitus. All her relationships revolved around coitus. From my observations, once her partners reached a certain level of familiarity, the lack of anything else in common between them caused the relationship to falter and terminate."

"I see. Thank you. I myself have no experience with copulation other than that which I've absorbed from the databases and literature in the ship's library."

"You've never had a boyfriend? There was never any one with whom you experienced closeness?"

"My subset of Nine, but copulation, your coitus, was never an option since there were no human males in our subset nor on the Cube Ship I was on." Seven never mentioned the attempts to copulate by species alien with her. It was irrelevant.

"You must have been very lonely, Seven of Nine. I know the feeling well. There is a phrase in our social lexicon that is probably overly used: 'alone in a crowd'. It describes how one feels when detached from people they are familiar with."

Seven had found the key to Sheldon Cooper and she used it without mercy or second thought.

"Perhaps, Sheldon, you and I, we, could be 'lonely' together?"

* * *

Sheldon spent the next few weeks acquainting himself with the various functions and soon became a familiar figure in the most unusual places. He didn't see Seven of Nine at all but that was not deliberate. His insatiable curiosity about everything was at first suspect but soon became an accepted fact. Luckily, no one seemed to mind his questions and insights, especially not Harry Kim, who wanted nothing more than to spend time with the man from the past.

Sheldon was full of questions about the 'future Earth' just as Harry was about the past. No one seemed more curious than Harry – except for Tom Paris. Tom had an on-going love affair with all things 20th century and was appalled that Sheldon didn't know quite as much as he did about the culture of the late 20th and 21st centuries.

"You mean you never listened to the Beatles? But they were iconic, Sheldon! How about Earth, Wind & Fire? Elvis Presley? Johnny Cash? The Four Tops? Martha and the Vandellas? Do any of these ring a bell with you?"

"Before my time. Now, if you like 'current popular music' of my time, you'll have to talk with Pen – "

He turned away from Tom and left the mess hall for his quarters. Every time he thought about 'home' his thoughts turned to the blonde woman across the hall who was currently swapping bodily fluids with his room mate, Leonard Hofstadter. He missed her more than he imagined he would. He missed all of them – even Leslie Winkle and Kripke.

The fact that they were long dead did nothing at all to ease his heartache. He cursed the Progenitors and their probe for taking him away from everyone he loved.

He knew what he had to do. He couldn't go back in time but he could end the heartache and alienation he felt more and more as time passed here on _Voyager._

"Computer, tell me about this century's morals, attitudes and constraints regarding self-termination."

* * *

Sheldon slipped into the mess hall between the Kappa and Gamma shifts, made some tea from what he'd found on the shelves and sat beside the outer hull and watched as stars red-shifted in long continuous lines as _Voyager_ made her way to the Inkora system where supposedly they might be able to trade for raw materials and food stuffs. Neelix had asked him to accompany him and he had been looking forward to his first 'away mission' but the captained had nixed his trip.

'You don't have any training or experience, Dr. Cooper, and until you get the training, you're ship-bound. Maybe next time.'

He'd spoken with Tom and even Tuvok about 'training' and each had said that their duties left little time for training. He finally talked to Harry Kim who recommended a series of holodeck programs and that's why Sheldon was sitting in the mess hall at this time of 'night'. It was the only time he could get holodeck time to run the training programs and he always drank tea afterwards.

Sheldon had just run the final program and he was aching and his face burned where a phaser had struck a tree trunk he was hiding behind. He had passed the simulations and was now prepared to run thru the final exam and then present his scores to Tuvok for evaluation.

"Good evening, Sheldon. Why aren't you sleeping? I thought you required 8 hours of REM sleep to properly function?" Seven of Nine walked up behind him, suppressing the need to touch him, to feel him, to assimilate him. Lately these feelings had begun to impact her efficiency and she was uncertain what course of action to take. He'd been on her mind constantly, mostly in background, but still there.

He turned and looked at her and she gasped in shock and surprise and tapped her com badge.

"Seven of Nine to EMH, prepare a medical transporter lock on my location. Two to beam to sick bay."

"Wait! It's not as bad as it looks, Seven. I just twigged the safety protocols a bit to maximize…" He and Seven disappeared from the mess hall and reappeared in sick bay. "...the realism of the training exercise and motivate myself to achieve maximum performance."

"Now, Seven, what is the nature of the medical emergency?" Seven was wearing the new 'cat suit' that the Doctor had fashioned for her to take the place of the intimidating Borg garment she wore as a drone. It was the only thing the Doctor could see – Seven in her form-fitting and enhancing suit.

"Look at him, Doctor! Those are 3rd degree phaser burns. The idiot turned off the safety protocols in the holodeck suite and ran training programs."

"Oh, my, yes! Tsk tsk, Sheldon. Are you aware that the safety protocols are in place to prevent your injury or death? Why would you do such a thing?" He busied himself preparing to treat the severe burn on Sheldon's cheek and neck.

"To increase realism and push myself to perform as required to pass the training module. You would be surprised, Leonard, at just how 'motivated' you can become when death is a real possibility. I needed to know that I could face these situations and not fail to support my team."

Seven blinked, not believing what she heard. He risked death to ensure he maximized his performance and training. That was a trait she hadn't factored into her plan to suborn Sheldon to her will. He lacked a fear of death. What did he fear?"

The doctor ran a dermal regenerator over Sheldon's neck and cheek all the while lecturing him on the reasons Starfleet had those safety protocols. The nerves had been destroyed and that was probably the only reason he was not in severe pain. The treatment would repair those nerves and a quick application of a topical anesthesia would prevent the pain the Doctor felt he deserved for pulling such a foolish stunt.

"Seven of Nine, would you give us a few moments alone?" The Doctor was going to peel the skin off Sheldon's hide and then report his actions to the Captain who would finish peeling the skin off his entire body!

Seven activated the door mechanism but stepped to the side in the shadows. She intended to listen to anything said to ensure it didn't interfere with her plans.

"Sheldon, I know that the need to excel and to achieve is strong in you but – "

"Leonard, I need a capsule of potassium cyanide, approximately 400mg, and your discretion as a physician. I tried to get the Replicator to produce one but it refused and cited regulations that prohibited crewmembers from obtaining the compound."

"Well, of course it refused. Potassium cyanide, in the quantity you request, is deadly to humans. The amount you request is lethal, Sheldon, lethal! Do you want to die? What possible use – oh, no, Sheldon…I should have realized…"

"You must respect Doctor/Patient confidentiality, Leonard. I checked. It's part of your basic module and cannot be overridden even by command authority."

"Sheldon, talk with me or talk with Seven. We don't have a ship's counselor or I'd recommend a session or two with him but – suicide is not the answer."

"What is, then? I'm 66 years from a home that no longer exists! I do not fit in here. I have no function or purpose. Hell, Seven of Nine is accepted more readily than I am because of her unique abilities. I have none of those to offer. I'm useless, a curiosity, a damned anachronism. You should have left me in that transporter buffer. It would have been a mercy." He wiped tears from his cheeks with the backs of his hands ignoring the stinging of his burn.

A soft voice behind him said, "No, Sheldon Cooper, you are not useless. You are not a curiosity or an anachronism. You and I, we are a collective as you once said, one and two of two. You are my new collective and I will not allow you to terminate your existence. Now, come along. You haven't eaten yet and I want to review your test results. Our collective is strong, but with synergism, it will be even stronger."

She took his hand and led him from the sick bay out into the corridor and back to her cargo hold. Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One now had a new and higher purpose than rejoining the Borg collective. She had a new collective and a new purpose.

The doctor just shook his head in wonder. Seven of Nine had smiled and it was a genuine smile that reached her eyes and had been directed at the oldest man of the crew. How odd that it took someone from 5 centuries ago to reach the young woman liberated from the Borg less than a few months ago.


	8. Learning Lessons the Hard Way

Taken Chapter 7

* * *

Sheldon hated being fussed over but even more, he hated being pitied and that's how he perceived Seven of Nine's sudden declaration of a new collective. Sure, he'd mentioned a new collective but he had in mind the entire crew of the starship, not _him_ specifically.

"Sheldon Cooper, focus. There are three Gorn unaccounted for. You have been separated from the away team and the Gorn are herding you in the wrong direction. Focus or die, Sheldon Cooper, for those are your only choices."

He almost tore off the headset in exasperation. He knew there were still 3 Gorn remaining. He'd written this particular scenario himself in homage to James T. Kirk's epic and stirring battle against the Gorn but he had not considered the annoying and distracting audio input from his…friend when planning his evasion. Having her always on his mind was troubling enough.

"Seven of Nine, your annoying chatter is distracting and impeding my termination of the remaining Gorn and rejoining my away team at the shuttle within acceptable time frames. Please cease and desist lest I mi – "

The blast of a Gorn disintegrator device struck him full in the chest. As he lay there on his back in the dirt he wondered if holographic dirt carried holographic microbes and if he might catch and then succumb to some holographic infection. He made a mental note to ask Leonard about it.

"Are you functional, Sheldon Cooper?" Seven wasn't gloating. No. Borg were incapable of gloating but even she noted a certain tone in her voice and her next sentence was infused with more 'caring'.

"Sheldon, speak to me. I know you're not dead since I reset the safety protocols _again_. Why do you insist on risking your life in training when the space around us abounds with life forms that will happily take your life if you encounter them unprepared?"

A voice behind her startled her and she wondered again if her efficiency quotient was diminishing as a result of her 'alliance' with this pre-War earthling.

"Perhaps that's why he's pushing himself, Seven of Nine, because he _does_ know the price for being unprepared. Does he always push himself this hard? What are the safety protocols set at now, Seven?"

Chakotay had eased into the observation area, not wanting to disrupt the exercise but he couldn't help overhearing what Seven had said regarding the safety protocols and it was his duty as the ship's executive officer to monitor crew well-being.

"Yes, and it is unacceptable. He wants to 'fit in' and he thinks by becoming this…this…'soldier', that he can somehow gain acceptance. He does not feel he belongs."

"Well, from what I've observed, he definitely has qualified for away missions. How do you feel about that, Seven?"

He was like so many others on _Voyager_ who watched the 'odd couple', surprised as they seemed to mold one another into valuable crew members and become a close unit unto themselves. Even Janeway was impressed – and amused.

"Computer, reset exercise from point at which Seven of Nine distracted me with her constant nagging." Sheldon stood up and stretched, feeling every bit of 500 years old.

"Perhaps, Dr. Cooper, you might consider taking a break and reviewing the recordings of the exercise. You might see something you missed…" '_and realize how stupid and stubborn you are being.'_

Seven's concerns were real and she set those feelings aside for later analysis. Chakotay chuckled at the blonde's attempts to get Cooper to quit. He reminded him of Janeway in a sense: a perfectionist who held personal relationships at arms' length for both personal and professional reasons.

"Computer, execute reset." Sheldon bounded down between the rocks and reversed course suddenly and headed back towards the shuttlecraft and the rest of the away team. He hoped his sudden change of direction might throw off the remaining Gorn and he was, predictably, correct.

"Well, Seven, it would appear that Dr. Cooper does indeed know the price of victory. Carry on."

* * *

Sheldon invited Seven of Nine to have dinner in his quarters a few days after the holodeck exercise. He'd procured the ingredients for his special meal and had badgered Neelix into allowing him to use the kitchen facilities to prepare it for the couple.

He didn't think that Neelix would watch every step he took and then later attempt to duplicate the meal using native substitutes, but he did.

"So, Sheldon, this 'spaghetti', it is made from grain? How do you get it so long and rigid? And you make a liquid 'sauce' from tomatoes and various spices?"

"Yes, Neelix. My – my grandmother would make it and allow me to assist when I was a child. Later, I taught Penny how to make it and it became our special 'comfort' meal. Now, you boil and stir the sticks of spaghetti in water until they soften and can be cut easily with a fork against the side of the pot. Then you drain off the water and let the spaghetti sit in the strainer for a few seconds and then return it to the pot and then add the heated sauce. In deference to Seven's vegetarian preferences, I've omitted the small bits of meat, called hot dogs, from the mix."

"That's very considerate of you, Sheldon. Perhaps I might sample a small bowl? It looks like it would be a popular addition to our menus."

Neelix prepared a bowl for himself while Sheldon pulled the garlic bread from the oven device. He handed Neelix a fork and then laughed at the Tellaxian's efforts to get the spaghetti into his mouth and not all over the front of his uniform.

"Here. Take this spoon and twirl the fork of spaghetti against it and 'wind' the spaghetti around the fork. It's easier and not so messy."

One bite was all it took.

"Oh, Sheldon…this is wonderful. The sauce and the noodles and the garlic bread…a wonderful combination."

"Let's hope Seven likes it." Sheldon had never cooked for any woman before. He'd never cared to.

"Well, if she doesn't, call me and I'll take care of the leftovers. _Do Not_ dispose of them. I shall take personal responsibility for their disposition." He meant he'd eat whatever remained but Sheldon wasn't as familiar with Telaxian expressions. He never thought that a fish could have facial expressions but Neelix showed him how wrong he could be.

Sheldon carried the self-warming tray back to his quarters and had the small table set up for two when his door chimed and Seven entered exactly on time, probably to the second.

"Hey, I hope you didn't come alone."

"I was unaware that I was supposed to bring a guest to our first dinner together, Sheldon. Do you require a chaperone?" That damned raised eyebrow again.

"I didn't finish. I hope you brought your appetite along. This should be perfect. Even Neelix likes it."

"Sheldon, Tallaxians are capable of ingesting anything. It's a survival trait of their species."

"Oh. Well, let's see if we're capable of ingesting what I prepared. It's called 'spaghetti' and I don't know if it's served on _Voyager_ but it's a common meal on my Earth."

Seven had the same problem with spaghetti as did Neelix but she quickly mastered the 'twirl' thing and soon the only thing heard in Sheldon's small en suite was the clicking of silverware on china and the occasional sigh.

"This is pleasing, Sheldon. The combination of textures and colors is pleasing to the eye and the crunchiness of the garlic bread is a nice contradiction to the noodles and sauce."

"Um, how does it taste, Seven?" He was never quite sure about some of the comments Seven made. She had a sense of humor but it was wry and somewhat twisted.

"Taste is irrelevant, Sheldon, but it, too, is pleasing. All in all, a pleasing meal. Will we copulate afterwards or are you still so uncertain of your position in our collective?"

She jumped up and performed the Heimlich on Sheldon when his face grew red and he seemed to have trouble breathing. It wasn't really necessary. He wasn't choking, not exactly. He was embarrassed and surprised and had a mouthful of spaghetti and didn't want to gross Seven out by spewing noodles and sauce all over her white cat suit.

"Sev – cough - en!" He wheezed out her name and she handed him a glass of water. This seemed to happen each time she mentioned anything to do with 'copulation'. She made a mental note to research the possibilities of humans being allergic to a specific spoken word.

"Do you require the EMH and sickbay, Sheldon?" She was genuinely concerned. Their new collective was just that – new – and she was determined that they would mesh harmoniously and that seemed to include physical intimacy according to the databases and literature to which she had access.

She had asked Tom Paris for his recommendations for literature and he later gave her a list of 'recommended readings and videos' that he'd put together. Seven was naïve about some things and she had no idea just what she'd been reading. B'elanna Torres had had a hand in putting together the 'suggestions' and her dislike of the Borg colored her judgment and influenced her selections.

"B'elanna, some of that is…porn!" His girlfriend had often cajoled him into watching porn, not that he objected much.

"Tom, she's totally without any background about sex at all. These are just…teaching aids. Yeah, teaching aids."

"Sheldon, you have told me you have never been intimate with another human being and I have already told you that there were no human males on the Borg Cube ship I was assigned to. Are you hesitant because of 'performance issues'?"

She had read about ED and how it was often caused by performance anxiety. She made another mental note to mention it to the Doctor and get his input.

"Seven, you have become my dearest friend, but in my limited experience, moving from a nice meal to 'coitus' is a stretch, except perhaps for the Big Ol' Five. We hardly know each other and – "

"Why do you keep making reference to this Penny person, Sheldon, whenever we speak of almost anything that could possibly hint at intimacy? Are you in love with her? If so, I hope you realize that the woman you idolize is dust and has been for the past 500 years!"

Seven left Sheldon's quarters in a huff and walked quickly to the sickbay. She analyzed her reactions to Sheldon's comments and her comments and was thoroughly confused and at odds with any of her rational conclusions.

Had she had a normal childhood and a normal period of socialization she would have realized that what she was attempting to create in her collective was more akin to marriage than anything else.

* * *

"What should I do, Doctor? I'm so confused by his rejection." Seven was talking with Leonard, the EMH, who was proving to be as dim as she was about relationships.

She wiped tears off her cheeks and was suddenly afraid.

"Doctor, I am malfunctioning. Something is wrong. My vision is unclear and I appear to be leaking fluids from my ocular implant and natural eye. Help me!"

"Oh, Seven, dear…those are tears. They are a perfectly natural by-product of emotional frustration or sadness or heartbreak. You are not malfunctioning at all. In fact, this is a wonderful achievement for your budding humanity!"

"I do not want to feel this way. I do not want to leak fluids. I do not like emotions. Make them go away, Doctor! I cannot function like this. My efficiency is degrading and it's all his fault!" More tears and more sniveling and sniffling. She was miserable.

"Whose fault? Did someone hurt you?"

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper. He has 'feelings' for a – a dead woman – and he refuses to copulate even though we are a collective, One and Two of Two. He's says I'm his 'dearest friend' but that we hardly know one another…"

The Doctor smiled and wished Sheldon Cooper well. He knew others who would have taken Seven of Nine up on her offer and then cast her aside without regard for her feelings. Perhaps his initial forebodings about this new 'collective' were in error?

"He's being what is know as a gentleman, Seven. He knows that a couple should not rush into intimacy without being certain of their feelings. He probably 'drew the line' at kissing or even petting, am I not correct?"

"No, you are _not_ correct. He 'drew the line' at touching of any sort. We have never kissed or held hands or…" More tears and sniffles. The Doctor handed her a tissue and patted her hair gently. This was new ground for him and he would have to review his unused program modules for something on 'relationship counseling'.

* * *

Sheldon avoided Astrometrics and Seven of Nine for the next week and concentrated on his training and on his lessons in flying a shuttlecraft. Using a device that 'taught' him while he slept, he was soon quite adept at all aspects of flying a shuttle.

Of course, that was all in the holodeck and despite its realism, Sheldon knew it was little more than a souped-up video game called 'Flight Simulator'. The real test would be later today when Tom Paris finished his shift on the bridge and took him out for a 'certification run' – in deep space.

"So, Sheldon, how are things going with Seven of Nine? I haven't seen you two in the mess hall or anyplace else for that matter. In fact, the only times I've seen Seven, she's been with Ensign Kim. They seemed to be getting pretty chummy."

"Seven of Nine is free to do as she will. This 'collective' nonsense was probably not something she intended to continue once I became more acclimated to _Voyager."_

Tom heard what he said, but it was the way he said it that piqued his interest. "Head in for an emergency landing, Sheldon. Assume that your lateral thrusters are malfunctioning and that impulse power is barely 10%. Let's see how you handle it."

Tom made adjustments to the shuttlecraft to replicate his scenario in real performance and waited until the most crucial moment before dropping his latest piece of Seven-related information. He wanted to see just how Sheldon Cooper handled stress.

"Shel, you know that Seven and Harry have reserved the holosuite for the K'taraan Moonrise scenario, don't you? You know what that means? Someone's gonna get lucky tonight…"

Even Sheldon knew about that scenario. Tom had told him how he'd finally gotten past B'elanna's defenses using the beauty of the scenario to weaken her resolve.

Sheldon's attention was riveted on maintaining his course, minimizing yaw and not becoming a smear on _Voyager's_ hull. He heard Tom but quashed any reaction to it. He had to land the shuttle flawlessly to qualify as pilot on away missions.

"Perfect landing, Sheldon! Oh, I was just adding an element of distraction when I mentioned the holosuite. It's tomorrow night, not tonight." He smiled but then noticed the ice cold look on the Old Man's face and felt bad about mentioning it. That's the nickname he'd gained among the crew. The Old Man, because of his birth on Old Earth.

"Will you sign the log and certify me, Ensign Paris? It's regulations."

"My pleasure. You now have earned the right to be the ship's bus driver should the opportunity arise. Now, let's head for Sandrine's and I'll buy you a drink or four. It's the custom and tradition of the service, Dr. Cooper, when you get your wings, you get 'wet down'."

"I do not imbibe alcohol, Tom. I always make a fool of myself so I avoid it like church and taxes. Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll see if Neelix has mastered marinara sauce yet."

"Not a chance in hell, pal. It's tradition. All the crew will be there and you don't want to disappoint all those ladies when they hear how you've qualified for the highest flight levels, do ya? Only you and I out of all the crew are certified for highest levels, Shel. You should be proud of yourself."

"Tom…" He really didn't want to be around people right now. Instead of joy and satisfaction at achieving a designation only Tom Paris himself held, he felt…empty.

"Seven will be there. I told her you were taking the final test and she said she'd be there since 'custom required it'. Don't want to disappoint her, do you?"

"I require food and then rest. You go ahead and have a good time, Tom. You've been a patient instructor and I appreciate it. I'll see you later. I'm tired. Good night, Tom."


	9. P'ruul and Croom and Germs

A/N: I'll be on vacation for the next few days. A bunch of us are going to Monument Valley and climb the needles. I'm giving you TWO chapters to make up for my absence. Reviews required. Happy 4th of July.

Acknowledgment: Part of this chapter deals with a special skill Sheldon has acquired. Taken from SpaceAnJL's wonderful The Paladin Protocol and when you finish reading and reviewing this chapter, go read it. It's great!

Reparata

* * *

Taken – Chapter 7split

Sheldon threw himself into any duty he could scrounge up. He was always willing to take someone's shuttle run or pull a shift in any department he'd been qualified in simply to fill his hours. His sleep was fitful and his appetite was nonexistent. Food was fuel, nothing else.

He avoided Seven and Astrometrics for days and finally got his chance to go planet-side on an away mission with Neelix and Harry Kim. The profile called for trade and barter for foodstuffs and anything of value. The crew had donated personal effects that might be of interest to the locals, a humanoid race known as the P'ruul and who, according to Neelix, were peaceful farmers and tradesmen functioning on a pre-Industrial Revolution level.

Seven of Nine slipped aboard at the last moment and took a seat beside Harry Kim. Sheldon ignored the way she grabbed Harry's hand when she noticed him nod to her in polite greeting. Sheldon went through the mundane chores of prepping the shuttle and then getting clearance from 'Shuttle Traffic Control'. _Why have such a function when there was never any shuttle traffic to control?_

* * *

_Planetside_

Sheldon brought the shuttle in to a soft landing near a town Neelix had visited previously. The Tellaxian seemed to have been to every world the _Voyager_ passed. Sheldon was fascinated by almost everything he saw. He was like a little kid in a candy shop. He was standing on an alien world!

Trouble started when a delegation met the crew in the city marketplace and started bartering their wares. There were slaves shackled together for sale as well as food items and jewelry and trinkets. Sheldon stood off to the side, disgusted with the crew's indifference toward the plight of the slaves. He thought that 'noble Star Fleet' would denounce slavery but apparently the Prime Directive forbid any actions that might disrupt the locals.

Neelix stood and shook his head and waved his arms around and then walked over to where Sheldon stood. "Sheldon, these are not the same people I met when I was here last. These are tribesmen, the Croom, from the plains. I think we're in trouble here. The Croom are not willing to barter or trade. And I recognize some of the people in those chains from my last visit – they're townspeople."

"Don't talk to me. Talk to Harry. He's the Star Fleet rep on the ground. I'm just the ship's sideshow freak, Neelix. Maybe Harry will call a halt to this and we can get airborne and back to the ship – that is if he can keep his hands off his girlfriend and his mind on ship's business!"

Neelix slapped Sheldon on the shoulder in sympathy and Sheldon frowned. He didn't like to be touched and being surrounded by filthy P'ruul and the Croom made his skin crawl. He like Neelix and considered him a friend but he still didn't like to be touched.

The Croom were very taken with Seven of Nine and offered to buy her for all the barter goods they'd brought from the small city.

"I would have this one. Her hair is like the sun and surely she would bear me many sons." Sheldon frowned to himself and thought that the man was an idiot since breeding between species was highly unlikely although he didn't fault the Croom's taste.

The Croom grabbed Seven by the wrist and she reacted by breaking his arm and throwing him to the ground. Not a wise move as it turned out that he was the son of the leader and a whining bully who took after his father in all the wrong ways.

"Take the woman and kill these off-worlders. We will take their sky boat and rule the world!"

He couldn't stop himself and before he knew it he was standing between a pissed off Croom and Seven of Nine. He wasn't authorized to carry a phaser and he doubted that Harry Kim would open fire to save him or Seven without written permission from Janeway. He'd shied away when the Croom had grabbed Seven.

"She is mine. I will fight you for her and once I kill you, we will leave you in peace." He felt like he was going to vomit but he just mouthed words from Age of Conan and prayed he could intimidate the Croom leader.

He couldn't. They laughed at him. "Okay, if you don't have the honor of a turd, go ahead and kill me." He hoped they had the honor system here.

"You insult me. I will enjoy spitting you on my sword and watching you whimper and die. Get this K'vat a sword!"

* * *

Sheldon had two things going for him. First, the gravity on this planet was only 80% of standard and he knew how to fence. While lecturing at Heidelberg in Germany he'd taken a course called 'academic fencing' (he thought was an aggressive form of debate) simply to fill the time. Boy, was he wrong! He did surprise himself and his instructor by learning the saber and foil well enough to compete in a tournament or two.

The sword used by the Croom was about a foot too long and far too heavy and relied on the point to kill. Sheldon spotted a blacksmith and walked over and told him to cut of a foot and then sharpen the blade on both sides. The P'ruul thought he was crazy but Sheldon took off his watch from Old Earth and handed it to him. The work was done quickly and was first rate. The basket hilt was familiar to him and he wielded his new rapier with ease.

"All right. Here's the deal. I kill you and then we all leave. Oh, and you guys," he waved his sword to include the armed Croom, "release the slaves and go on about your business." He sounded confident and he hoped he'd given them pause for thought.

The Croom made the equivalent of their laugh – a hissing sound and a rapid clapping of their hands. Sheldon fought down the thoughts of Seven being pawed by one of these alien Neanderthals and stood his ground.

"Agreed. But when I kill you, I will add your companions to the slave coffle and your sun-haired woman to my stable. On this you have my word."

The fight started slowly, each circling, feeling the other out. Sheldon decided to start off using his left hand to see if fighting a southpaw would knock the Croom off his stride but the brute adjusted easily, switching hands himself.

"Does he even know what he's doing, Seven?" Harry was undecided about what to do. He was the only one armed and he had the Prime Directive to contend with . He could only fire in self defense.

"I don't know. Sheldon Cooper is a constant surprise to me, Harry Kim. Would you have challenged the Croom as he did?"

"Seven, the Captain's orders…"

"Never mind, Ensign Kim. I understand." She understood that Kim's oath to Star Fleet outweighed any feelings he might have for her. Even though he was angry with her (and she didn't have a clue why), Sheldon still stood with his collective.

The air on the planet was thinner than he was used to and this effectively negated his advantage with the lesser gravity. He was gasping for breath while the Croom was standing a sword's length away smiling, his rotten teeth and fangs showing remnants of his last feeding.

The Croom suddenly lunged and Sheldon was caught off guard and flatfooted and an inch of the Croom sword buried itself in his left shoulder. He heard the slaves give a sighing wail while the Croom laughed and hissed and his fellows banged their swords on their scabbards in appreciation.

Sheldon switched hands and whirled the sword around in a quick figure 8 and laughed like a madman and lunged, catching the Croom just under the breastplate. He danced forward and extended his arm until the basket hilt touched the breastplate. He withdrew the sword and with a flick of his wrist the greenish blood flew at the remaining Croom. He plunged his sword into the dirt more to steady himself that as an act of bravado.

"Free the slaves and leave. He is dead and you must honor his word. Take his body with you." Sheldon turned and grimaced. His stomach was heaving and he felt lightheaded from lack of oxygen. He had killed a man and it was like nothing he'd ever experienced. He felt revulsion but an underlying sense of triumph and redemption.

"Neelix, gather up our stuff and let's get the hell off this turd. Next time, my friend, make damned sure we don't land in the middle of a war. Man, Janeway is going to be pissed we didn't get anything." He glanced at Harry Kim and Seven and shook his head, trying to come to grips with this new conundrum and…

His next thought was that the dirt on this turdball was definitely going to give him some exotic disease. He could taste it and smell it and he dragged open one eye and he could _see_ it.

He had no idea how he ended up face down in the dirt but there he was, probably crawling with incurable pathogens. If he survived, he promised to mind his own business and keep his big mouth shut. He was done being anyone's Paladin. His body seconded his decision by vomiting.

* * *

Janeway was pissed, but not at Sheldon specifically, but at the entire away team. Harry caught the brunt of it since he was the Star Fleet officer and he was technically in charge.

"Mr. Kim, why didn't you intercede and take charge and leave when these Croom became aggressive? You were armed with a phaser, after all, and set to stun, you could easily have egressed and returned to _Voyager_."

"Ma'am, Dr. Cooper went a little nuts when the Croom grabbed Seven and threatened to carry her off. It all happened so fast and the challenge had been made before I – "

"Enough. Perhaps you need to review away mission rules and regulations before leaving the ship again. Since only Dr. Cooper suffered an injury, you got off lightly and the violation of the Prime Directive was his, not yours, and I'll deal with him directly. That is all."

Janeway watched Harry Kim leave and then leaned back in her chair and sighed. Ensign Kim should have taken command and yet he didn't. Ensign Kim should have interceded and yet he didn't. Ensign Kim should not have allowed Seven of Nine to join the away mission yet he did. More training and experience in away missions would improve his judgment.

"So, Katherine, what are you going to do with Sheldon Cooper? Given the situation, Ensign Kim should have taken command but didn't. Looking at Cooper, you'd never know he was capable of such action. Maybe…maybe we should consider a provisional commission into Star Fleet. At least then he'd have to follow the rules."

"Chakotay, his actions were both heroic and stupid. He's hotheaded and a loose cannon. He thinks he's always right and – "

"Excuse me, Captain, but are you saying you wouldn't have fought to save a fellow crewman? Granted, freeing those townsfolk from slavery wasn't adhering directly with the Prime Directive but it was his humanity showing through. I think that was a marvelous example of humanity for Seven of Nine to have witnessed, don't you?"

"Too many questions and you know damned well the answer to both would be 'yes'. So, what do I do with him? He doesn't fit anywhere on board and yet every time something needs to be done, he volunteers for it and gets it done. He's more than qualified to lead away missions and his piloting skills are second only to Paris'. Any suggestions – _other_ than offering him a position of rank on _Voyager_?"

* * *

Sheldon had a suggestion once he was conscious and the infection he'd gotten from either the turdball's dirt or the Croom's sword was finally responding to treatment.

"Transport me back into the Harvester Probe's transport buffer and jettison the probe into deep space and put things as they were before you found me. There. Problem solved. Let Fate determine the outcome. You'll have clean hands and conscience and I'll be right where I was before you picked up the probe, Captain Janeway."

"That's not an option, Sheldon Cooper." Seven of Nine had sat with him during the days he was racked with fever. She left only to perform those few calculations necessary to maintain the Astrometrics function and to regenerate. He had stood by her and she intended to stand with him.

"Seven, I'm sure he doesn't mean it. It's the fever talking, that's all. May I suggest, Captain, that this discussion be terminated and resumed when Dr. Cooper is in possession of all his faculties? He's incapable of making a rational decision given his current condition."

"Dr. Cooper, for the record, I'm not putting you in any transport buffer now or in the future. Get well and we'll discuss your future here on _Voyager_ at that time."

"Seven, a word in the corridor, if you please." The two women walked out into the corridor out of earshot.

Janeway turned on Seven and glared at her. "You should not have been on that away mission, Seven. Harry Kim should not have allowed you on board the shuttlecraft. Dr. Cooper doesn't know the terms of your parole but you do…no off-ship sojourns – period."

"I – yes, you are correct. But I have no intention of returning to the Borg collective. I have established another collective here on Voyager." She looked smugly at the Captain. She'd only gone on the shuttle mission to see how Sheldon would react to her presence with Harry Kim. She had her answer.

"Ah…you and Mr. Kim?" Janeway had heard rumors, gossip, about the pair.

"No, Captain. He is…unworthy."

"Then who? Oh, my…not…"

"Yes. Dr. Sheldon Cooper. He is worthy and heroic and as soon as he gets his cranium out of his rectum, he will see that we are One and Two of Two."

She would have gushed on and on but Janeway waved a hand and smiled and walked to the turbolift. Once inside, she started to laugh. Who would have thought that the Borg and the Old Man…yes, she knew of the nickname but never used it. It was disrespectful even if fundamentally true. _'Cranium out of his rectum?' _Her laughter echoed throughout the turbolift shafts.


	10. Cooties and Birthday Parties

A/N: Trip canceled. It's too damned hot and I might melt.

Would it make you too overcome with heat exhaustion to tap the review button? I'd like some feeeeeeedback.

* * *

Taken Chapter 8

Sheldon was released to quarters and told to 'take it easy' but Sheldon, this Sheldon, bored more easily than ever and so…

Mess Hall  
Gamma shift

"It's good to see you up and around, Sheldon. We were all very worried about you. When you hit the dirt…well, I thought Seven was going to use that sword of yours and slay every Croom standing there. You scared the fire out of us."

"I don't remember much at all about that away mission, Neelix. What are you cooking there? It smells, uh, interesting." He remembered everything about the away mission, from the strange tangy air to the feel of the sword in his hand as it pierced the leather breastplate of the tribesman right up until he was eyeball to eyeball with whatever lurked in the P'ruul turf. Eidetic memory was a double-edged sword. Some things he longed to forget – he couldn't.

"It's a new recipe I'm trying…"

"Ug…gotta run, Neelix." The smell was bad but the sight of the slop he was cooking made Sheldon thank the stars that he had enough Replicator rations to avoid the mess hall for a few days.

He dashed out of the mess hall and down the corridor to the turbolift and gasped out "Deck 4, Section 8" and leaned back, breathing deeply through his mouth.

Sheldon entered his quarters and walked into his en suite bath and vomited. He hadn't been able to keep down much except oatmeal and warm tea since he was released from sickbay. Leonard had assured him that he would be fine once the last of the plague he'd caught worked its way out of his system.

Tom Paris came by to check on him and to bring him up to speed on the gossip on _Voyager_. For a small ship, there certainly was a lot of drama. Tom woke him up but didn't apologize. All the Old Man seemed to do was sleep and sulk since the fight.

"The Delaney twins were asking about you. I think one of them, don't ask me which, has a crush on you, Old Man. You simply must show your face at Sandrine's as soon as you're feeling better. Oh, and Harry and Seven…"

He shook his head and made a fluttering motion with his hand like a shuttle crashing in flames.

"They're toast. Apparently Harry got a bit fresh and Seven put him in his place, hard, Sheldon. She said that she was 'One of Two' and that there was no room for a 'Three'. Something you want to share with the class?"

"There's nothing to share. Seven is my friend, that's all. I'm sorry that she and Harry crashed and burned. I thought he'd be good for her. I thought those two were a couple after that moonrise thing."

"Uh, well, that never really happened. Oh yeah, Harry reserved the holosuite but Seven never showed up. She said she had to 'wash her hair' or some girly thing."

"That sounds like something Penny, ah, like Penny would have said, if she was sober." Tom noted the hesitation and the sad look on Sheldon's face.

He put his hand on Sheldon's shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy. "Tough leaving someone you loved behind, right? Well, play your cards right and you'll find love and happiness in our century," he paused for effect and then said, "even if you _are_ the oldest man in the galaxy."

Sheldon laughed softly. He never loved Penny, not in the way Tom meant. He'd never loved anyone except his Meemaw, his mother, and his brat twin siser and didn't think he was capable of feeling 'that way' for another person. He carried too much baggage and was far too shy to ever approach a woman even if he felt that way.

That accounted for his strange relationship with Seven of Nine. He was afraid he might be in love - for the first time - and Seven of Nine had enough problems in life without him hanging around her neck, holding her down. Still, he couldn't seem to banish her from his mind as he had Penny and the others. Perhaps resistance was futile.

"Seven was at Sandrine's last night. Alone. She was wearing a dress, Sheldon, and she looked hot!" He watched his friend's face and wondered…no, he couldn't be gay, could he?

Sheldon perked up a bit and Tom smiled to himself. _Okay, he's not gay…just painfully shy. I need to talk to B'elanna and see what we can do about hooking him up with one of the Delaney twins._

* * *

Tom and B'elanna's quarters

Relationships like Tom and B'elanna had were officially frowned upon but in light of the situation, ignored for the most part.

"Tom, I don't think inviting Dr. Cooper to Sandrine's is one of your better ideas. He's just getting over being sick and besides, he doesn't seem like the type to mix well with our friends."

"You're still pissed about the 'smooth forehead' comment, aren't you? You need to get over it, B'el, and let bygones be bygones."

"It was a mortal insult, Tom Paris, and he knew it!" She was still angry with the skinny man for his insult, regardless of her own fault.

"He's hurting, B'elanna, and I hate seeing him like this. He's a ghost of who he was. I think there's more going on in his head than he lets on. You didn't see the look on his face when he mentioned that 'Penny' person. He looked close to tears."

"Fine. Invite him but I'll bet you a week's ration coupons that he won't show."

* * *

Paris took advantage of an away mission to wear Sheldon down and accept an invitation to the party…eventually.

Tom was set to make a recon run of a planet that geological scans showed had deposits of raw dilithium crystals and other raw materials that were needed to keep _Voyager_ running. He asked Sheldon to 'tag along' since his last away mission had ended so abruptly 'and besides, Shel, the experience will do you good'.

He liked the gawky prehistoric man and felt bad for him. They talked about B'elanna's upcoming birthday party and Sheldon said, "I don't think I'm up for a party, Tom but I'll see how I feel then."

They flew low over the trace signal but Tom couldn't land the shuttle due to the heavy forests. It reminded Sheldon of the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Tom put the shuttle down in a clearing about 5km from the trace site and the trio set off to recover whatever crystals they could find. It was early in the planet's day so they strolled through the forest, gawking and talking.

They were about half a click from the ore deposit and just starting to climb up the timbered ridgeline when a group of black six-legged apes came running down the slope hurling rocks and spears. They ran on four thick hind legs and used their 'arms' to throw rocks and their crude spears.

Only Tom and Harry carried phasers. Sheldon was not 'approved' for hand weapons yet and he really didn't care if he was or not. The two Star Fleet men started firing their phasers on stun, trying to discourage their attackers but all it did was piss them off and earn the trio another barrage of rocks and spears.

"Hey, these spear points – they're raw dilithium. Gather them up and let's get out of here. A dozen of these will power _Voyager's _warp drive for months." Harry had scanned the slope out of habit and spotted their good fortune.

"Good. Gather up what you can and let's get out of here. Sheldon, take point and run back to the shuttle. Trust me, we're right behind you." Tom gathered up three spears and Harry grabbed two and they back-pedaled down the slope.

This really hacked off the ape things and they ran after them, howling like banshees and hurling rocks at the 'intruders'. Sheldon was about 20 meters ahead of them and saw that another group of the ape things was running across the slope of the ridge, parallel to their path, probably trying to get ahead of them and cut them off.

'_Well, crap on a cracker, Batman, this really sucks.' _He stopped and waited for Tom and Harry to catch up with him so he could explain what he saw and they could plot another course back to the shuttle. Tom came back followed by a badly limping Harry. He'd been hit in the knee by a rock and he was barely able to walk let alone run.

"Tom, Harry, we're in deep doo-doo here. Some of the apes have run ahead of us and are probably waiting to ambush us somewhere up the line. We need to plot another course back to the shuttle."

"More bad news. These crystals aren't nearly as pure as we'll need. We can use them but we'll need a dozen or more. I dropped my two spears when I got hit with a rock. Man, those things can throw!" Tom worked on harnessing Harry's knee in a crude brace made from sticks while Sheldon looked over the satellite map that was totally useless in this terrain.

"Look, we need the dilithium and we need at least a dozen more spears. Harry, you're screwed and Tom, you'll need to help him kinda run to the shuttlecraft. Y'know, this reminds me of paintball only instead of 'capture the flag', we're playing 'don't get killed'."

"Are you nuts, Cooper? These beasts shake off phasers on stun and we can't kill sentient creatures – "

"I know, Harry, I know. The precious Prime Directive. Well, I'll bet the idiots who came up with it never had their balls in a sling like we do! Tom, leave me your phaser and help Harry back to the shuttlecraft. I'm going to run ahead and fuck up their day a bit. We'll leapfrog ahead from there."

Sheldon poured water from his flask onto the forest floor and shuddered as he smeared the muddy detritus over his face and the backs of his hands as crude camouflage. "Tom, if I get cooties or something from this crap, I'm going to kick your ass for talking me into coming along with you."

"Sheldon, what the hell are you doing?" Tom had a feeling he didn't want to know. Janeway was going to have his guts for garters if they screwed up another away mission.

"I'm going to go play 'capture the spearheads', that's what. You two wait a couple of minutes and then take off. Harry, sorry, but I'm taking your phaser, too. You can't break your precious PD but I can. Take care and get back to the shuttle. I'll be along directly."

"Oh, wait." He fumbled around in his ever-present messenger bag and took out an iPad and his journal. "If anything happens, give this to the Captain and the journal to Seven. She'll get a kick out of it."

Tom watched Sheldon disappear from sight into the forest obliquely to their path. He shook his head and cursed Star Fleet and the gods of misfortune for allowing Sheldon Cooper to appear in his century. The man clearly had a death wish.

"Janeway's going to skin us alive, Harry. Dilithium or no dilithium, we are so screwed. Okay, let's get you on your feet and," they heard the sound of phasers firing ahead and roars and growls from the ape things, "and get moving."

"Cooper's got a death wish, Tom. I just hope he doesn't take us down with him. I was kinda hoping that Seven and I – "

"Forget it! Seven and Sheldon are One and Two of Two. He just doesn't know how to handle it, that's all. He's shy and," more phaser fire and Sheldon's maniacal laughter interrupted him, "doesn't know how to deal with Seven - yet. Man, that laugh…makes me want to pee, y'know?" He stood Harry up and they hobbled down the track towards the shuttlecraft.

* * *

Katheryn Janeway was torn between hugging the away team and spanking them. The spear points they collected would yield enough dilithium to keep her ship moving for almost a year once they were properly refined and shaped. The way they got them was why she wanted to hug them. She almost lost three of her most promising crewmen and their tale was unbelievable. The risks they took…well, they were too big to paddle.

Still…

"Dr. Cooper, go get that foul-smelling crud off your face and hands and report to sickbay for an examination. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time. Mr. Paris, take Mr. Kim to sickbay and then drop off the crystals with B'elanna in Engineering. I'll want your reports by tomorrow. Well done."

* * *

Sheldon liked the sonic shower but he longed for one with hot water pounding on him, relaxing him, banishing the soreness from muscles he'd either used for the first time or overused. Still, it was convenient, quick and he did feel clean.

He stepped out of the shower stall and over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face and dried it and then applied the depilatory crème that he'd really learned to appreciate. No nicks, no missed spots, just a clean and smooth face. Except for the worry lines that seemed to grow deeper almost daily, he didn't look a day over 32, certainly not 5 centuries.

He took his filthy mission coveralls and recycled them and got a clean set from the small closet.

"Don't get dressed on my account, Dr. Cooper." Seven's soft voice startled him and he wrapped the coveralls around his waist.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing here, Seven?" He was embarrassed at being naked. He'd always had a thing about his body. It was scrawny and underdeveloped.

"I'm here to make sure you are still functional and then," she stepped towards him, "you will accompany me to Sandrine's and", another step closer, "we will finally hold hands," another step, "and let everyone know that we are together." She took another step and was almost touching him. "I trust that is acceptable, Dr. Cooper?"

"Y-yes, I suppose so. Your hair…" It was down around her shoulders and it was soft and wavy and he had to stop himself from running his fingertips through it. Seven would probably kill him if he did.

"I've been told that it is acceptable to 'let one's hair down' when out for the evening with one's significant other. You are definitely significant to me, Sheldon."

"I am?" He felt her breath on his cheek as she kissed it, lingering just a bit. "Yes, Sheldon, you are. We are One and Two of Two, although you may still call me 'Seven', of course." She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "Now get dressed, Sheldon, and let's go. It's B'elanna's birthday party and she was nice enough to invite us."

"Both of us? Are you sure? I don't think she's over the 'smooth forehead' comment yet."

Still whispering, she said, "I'll protect you, Sheldon. Don't be afraid." She was surprised at her boldness and encouraged by his response. His pupils had dilated and his nostrils flared just a bit when he first saw her. The database had been very explicit in those key markers of arousal.

Sheldon walked into Sandrine's holding Seven's hand. They held hands since leaving his quarters and he found that when he rubbed the pad of his thumb gently over the Borg implant on the back of her hand that it trembled and her breathing seemed to hitch. She glanced over and smiled shyly at him.

The clamor of noise and the crowd of people seemed to fade away and the couple walked over to where Tom and B'elanna were sitting and drinking – B'elanna more than Tom.

"Happy Birthday, B'elanna." Sheldon waited for her crappy response but she just smiled and pointed to a chair and said, "Sit, Old Man, and tell me the truth about the away mission. Tom keeps muttering about hairy apes and rocks and spears and poor Harry's stumbling around on crutches and confined to quarters for the next two days."

"Um, Seven, please sit. I'll find another chair." He started to turn away but was surprised when Seven pushed him into the chair and then arranged herself on his lap, putting one arm around his shoulders.

She was wearing slacks and a hooded t-shirt that she'd borrowed from B'elanna and her usual heels and so sitting on his lap was not a problem for her. He, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised but 'went with it' and wrapped one arm around her waist 'to stabilize her,' or so he told himself.

Seven mouthed a 'thank you' to B'elanna who nodded conspiratorially, and then motioned for Sheldon to start talking.

There was soon a crowd standing around, listening to Tom tell the tale since Sheldon's version only took about 15 seconds.

"…so then he kneels down and pours water on the dirt and starts painting his face with stripes of mud and threatens me with a horrible fate if he succumbed to 'cooties', whatever the hell they are."

Seven asked what 'cooties' were and Sheldon gave one of his rare 'real laughs' and explained that they were mythical bugs that young boys got from girls. When she still looked uncertain, he whispered boldly, "I'll tell you later, sweetie."

"Then he runs off into the trees and we start hearing phaser fire and this madman's laugh. Like I told Harry, it made me want to pee my pants. Scary."

"I did not violate your Prime Directive, Tom. I discovered that a double-tap put them to sleep. Just hit them twice on stun and they were in ape-thing dreamland. Besides, the laughter covered the sound of my teeth chattering. Those buggers were huge and they had canines like 8 inches long and they definitely weren't herbivorous!"

Seven had changed her regeneration cycle and was not a bit tired but she saw how Sheldon suppressed several yawns and whispered, "Let's get you back to your quarters and to bed, Sheldon. You've had a long day by the sound of it."

Sheldon started walking towards Seven's cargo bay to make sure she got 'home safely'. She pulled him by the hand towards his quarters.

"I read your journal. Tom gave it to me. He said I was supposed to have it. Did you mean what you wrote, Sheldon?"

"You read my journal? But I gave that to Tom in case – "

"Yes, I know. In case you did not return. But I am pleased he gave it to me. It explains so much and answers so many questions. So, did you mean what you wrote?"

* * *

A/N: What did Sheldon write and why does Seven want to know if he meant what he wrote?


	11. Error Error

Taken – Chapter 9

_"Yes, I know. In case you did not return. But I am pleased he gave it to me. It explains so much and answers so many questions. So, did you mean what you wrote?"_

There was a pause that stretched on and on and finally Seven broke the silence. "I see." She turned away in the direction of her cargo bay. Sheldon called after her.

"No, Seven, you don't. None of you do. I'm a fish out of water here on this starship and in this time. I don't belong here. I should be dead along with all the other people who were alive in my time. Instead, I'm out here, stuck in a tin can that'll take 66 years to reach home – but it's not my home any more, Seven. It's theirs. I can never go home again, Seven, never."

Seven wanted to comfort him but didn't know how. She opted for silence and paying attention to all the physical signs Sheldon was openly displaying for probably the first time in his life.

There were tears in his eyes and his hand that she held was sweaty and trembled. His voice was raspy and his breaths were quick and short and he seemed ready to run.

She spoke softly and gently, not wanting to 'spook' him. She didn't know it but she was using the same techniques humans used to gentle horses using a calm voice, slow motions and gentle touches.

Seven touched his wet cheek with a fingertip and brought it to her lips. His tears were salty. She could taste the seas of Earth in them but didn't know it.

"Sheldon, don't cry. I've learned that crying is an outward sign of great mental and emotional duress and I will do anything to help you just as you helped me. I just want to know, Sheldon Cooper. Did you mean what you wrote?"

_Journal Entry – 3rd day The Asylum. I met a woman who had been abducted and assimilated into an alien culture that creates nothing it cannot take from others and seems to exist only to expand by assimilating any and all species it encounters._

_She is a bio-mechanoid, a cyborg. Stupid me thought she was being tortured by the inmates who had taken over the asylum and I interrupted her 'regenerative cycle'. I asked her name and she replied 'I am Borg'. It's an ugly name for so beautiful a creature. She is all woman, though. She betrayed me to their ad hoc gendarmerie when I tried to escape to the outside world. Yes, she is a woman._

_Journal Entry #2 – unknown date. [I will number these entries rather than append the number of days on board]_

_I was returned to 'sick bay' where the Doctor was quite beside himself. He was angry in a cold and remote way I'm quite familiar with. He would have fit in well in Pasadena. I have decided to call him 'Leonard' because he reminds me of Leonard Hofstadter in so many ways. Not all of them are bad._

_I was taken away from sickbay and delivered to Captain Janeway. She is the captain of the starship Voyager and they are on their way home – to Earth – but not the Earth of my time. I have been in some sort of stasis for nearly 500 years and now a virtual prisoner in a new era of which I know nothing. I imagine they'll kill me eventually as supplies and tempers are both in short supply._

_Journal Entry #3 – I don't have any idea of the date. I have been in a state of shock since Janeway told me about the war on earth, the First Contact between Earth and aliens and the birth of Star Fleet._

_Borg is a human woman who had been assimilated into the Borg collective and can never return to them. She has had surgeries to remove Borg technology but some must remain or she will die. Even with no hair and mottled gray skin and a horrible attitude towards life, she is one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. I hope she can reunite with her Borg. She seems more isolated than I because of the physical differences between her and the rest of the crew. She is as miserable as I am. I will try to become her friend but have low expectations. Seven of Nine, Leonard provided the proper designation, doesn't seem to like humans or need anything remotely like companionship. I wish I could reduce my needs. I feel so alone. It's pathetic. I'm pathetic. So much for Homo Novus._

_Oh, yeah, I won the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics. Big whoop, as Penny would say. And I'm officially dead. Nice end to Sheldon Cooper._

_Journal Entry #4: Today I met a Klingon, a real live Klingon named B'elanna Torres. She called me the Klingon equivalent of a rat and I smacked her down as I would Leslie Winkle had I the balls in Pasadena that I seem to have grown on Voyager. I think something is off here. How could I know that she was Klingon from a television program written and broadcast 2 decades before I was born? Is this all in my head?_

_Journal Entry #5: today I met a Vulcan named Tuvok. He seems to doubt my story and I don't blame him. Even Seven of Nine seems distant but perhaps that is just her way. Being her friend will be difficult at best. I have been 'paroled' into her custody._

_Seven stood by me in what I'm certain was a court of inquiry. The officers of Voyager seem to doubt my story just as I seemed to have doubted theirs. Seven had copied my equations and formulae from the padd she had me use and now I wonder about her motives._

_I believe this is a different time line since Harry Kim seems to think that the formulae and equations to prove the existence of the elusive monopole and String Theory formed the basis of Cochran's warp drive experiments that led to First Contact._

_Tuvok thinks Roddenberry was a time traveler! Perhaps the Borg or the Progenitors still have access to such programs and I can go home! Even if I die in the coming war it would be worth it since without my 'discovery' Seven of Nine would have a totally different life. Would that be all that bad?_

_Harry Kim told me that Seven of Nine wants only to return to her collective. I would go with her gladly if only to lose all these painful memories of a past and life I can never return to._

_Seven invited me to dinner on the holodeck and after some misunderstandings regarding copulation, we spent an enjoyable evening together – at least I did. There always seems to be a hidden agenda going on with Seven of Nine. I told her I was lonely and she suggested that we be lonely together. I would like that. There is something about her that draws me to her like a moth to a flame. She is a beautiful woman, yes, woman. I see that now. Of course, I thought she was a beautiful Borg._

_Journal Entry #6: It has been several weeks since my last entry. I have not seen Seven of Nine but have met several people who are interested in learning about my time and they are friendly enough and I don't mind explaining a lot of misconceptions. A lot of the records of pre-War Earth were lost…most of them, actually._

_I have finally been approved for away missions although not without difficulty. Seven of Nine was angry with me for turning off the security protocols on the holodeck but without risk can there be any true learning experience? Anyhow, Leonard fixed me up but then turned down my request for 400mg of Potassium Cyanide in capsule form._

_Seven overheard my conversation with Leonard and declared us a new collective. She is, of course, One, while I am Two. She maintains that I have a purpose to fulfill, what, I don't know and she just smiles enigmatically like the model for the Mona Lisa when I ask her. She has taken to 'coaching' me when I run scenarios through the holodeck and she seems even more critical since her declaration than before. I wonder how much pity a Borg drone feels because that is what I think this new collective is, her pity for me. I cannot and will not be pitied!_

_I have taken a major step in my dealings with Seven of Nine: an invitation to dinner. I have made spaghetti and garlic bread. She will be on time and that is the only thing I'm sure of. _

_Journal Entry #7: Dinner was a disaster and now Seven of Nine is angry with me for what, I haven't a clue. She suggested coitus for dessert and I demurred and she got in a huff and walked out of my quarters. It's been several days since I've seen her but I doubt she has any desire to continue our collective. Women have always been and will always be a mystery to me._

_Journal Entry #8: I am now a fully-qualified shuttle pilot, second only to Tom Paris in skill and competency. Tom invited me to 'wet down' my new designation but I wouldn't go. He also told me that Seven of Nine and Harry Kim have a holo-date set for some romantic thing. I wish her well. I also wish that I didn't feel sick at heart thinking about her and Harry together. Don't get me wrong, I like Harry Kim, just not as Seven's boyfriend. I am jealous and embarrassed by it. I am above such pettiness…I am, really._

_Journal Entry #9: I have lost track of when I made the last entry. I have thrown myself into work and tasks on this starship. I am going on an away mission as command pilot for the first time! I haven't been this excited since Penny got me Leonard Nimoy's DNA! _

_Journal Entry #10: I have been ill and have totally lost track of time. Things have been busy and somewhat unsettling. I killed another being and I'm having trouble adjusting to being a murderer although he certainly deserved his fate for his intentions toward Seven of Nine. I stood by my collective and it was a strange feeling of rightness even if Seven and Harry are banging like bunnies. Her well-being is my only concern. If Harry hurts her, I will terminate his life functions. Note: I'm not serious. I will just 'fuck him up' as Penny would say._

_Journal Entry #11: Whatever I caught on that turdball planet will not go away. I can hardly keep oatmeal and tea down and I am in more need of REM cycles than before I became ill. What irony: I survive 500 years in atomized state and succumb to some crap I catch protecting my collective. Irony. Neelix brought my sword by and checked up on me. He says Seven has been worried about me. _

_I want Janeway to beam me back aboard the Harvester Probe and leave me in the buffer and relaunch the probe. Anything is better than this. I have to find a way to end this. The loneliness is debilitating. Seven and Harry, be happy._

_Journal Entry #12: I still am avoiding Seven of Nine. Seeing her with Harry Kim would not be wise given my state of mind. I'm depressed enough without seeing those two together._

_She has become almost a constant in my mind. I cannot sleep or eat much because…I'm jealous. Me, Homo Novus, the New Man, has fallen hopelessly in love with a woman 500 years his junior. The irony is not lost on me. I have finally found love (Penny would be so shocked but pleased) and it's unattainable, she's unattainable. _

_I wonder how much potassium I can replicate 'under the radar'? Probably not something the monitors would catch but the Cyanide would ring alarm bells and I'd be on suicide watch and restricted to quarters. I need to find something to occupy my mind until an opportunity presents itself. Leonard said with proper nutrition and lifestyle, humans easily live 140 years or more. I don't want 100 more years of feeling this way. Heartbreak isn't fatal, unfortunately._

_Journal Entry #13: I have been keeping busy and out of sight of most of the people I know well on Voyager. Tomorrow Tom and I are going to survey a planet for dilithium. Apparently Voyager is in dire need of it. Harry Kim will accompany the away team as geologist. I hope he doesn't ask Seven to accompany us. I don't think I could concentrate on my duties if she were sitting behind me all lovey-dovey with Harry. Success is critical for the future safety of the ship and crew. Despite what Tom says about their relationship being a non-starter, I believe Seven has made her choice and it's Harry Kim. Another reason to end this farce of a life. _

_I do not want to be in love with Seven of Nine. It is creating chaos where before there was order. I need to get my equations finished and then find a way back to my time. There is a war coming and I need to warn my friends and implement a plan that will ensure their survival. As for me? If I'm lucky, I'll be standing at ground zero. My last thought will be of her. _

"I'll ask you one last time, Sheldon Cooper. Did you mean what you wrote?" His eyes had glazed over for a few seconds and she knew he'd reviewed what he'd written in his journal.

"Ah, well, you see, Seven, well, yes. I meant what I wrote in my journal. Why would I write lies to myself?"

"There are many factual distortions and errors in your writings, Sheldon. Shall I list them?" Her haughty and arrogant manner made Sheldon want to walk away but instead he simply replied, "Yes."

"Error number one: I do not pity you. What I feel is far different than pity. I did not propose that we 'be lonely together' out of a sense of pity. Far from it."

"Error number two: I am not Harry Kim's girlfriend." She paused as if evaluating the impact of her pronouncement of Sheldon but then continued.

"Error number three: I _need_ companionship, Sheldon Cooper. Yours, specifically."

"Error number four: I never wish to re-join the Borg Collective. I am quite satisfied with the collective I have formed here on _Voyager."_

"Error number five: Harry Kim and I have never 'banged like bunnies'. We have never kissed, although he attempted to do so."

"Error num – " Sheldon interrupted her. "Are there many more of these errors of fact?"

"Yes, but I will summarize them in the interests of your REM cycle requirements. I am not unattainable, Sheldon. I have not chosen Harry Kim. I have chosen you. And finally, you _do_ need to be in love with me because I am in love with you. You cannot resist me, Sheldon Cooper. I am Borg and resistance is futile."

A/N: Believe it or not, I wrote this chapter before I wrote chapters 4 & 5. i may go a bit 'm' with this but Ive got a LJ account and I'll post it there. No sense upsetting the mighty censors.

Reparata


	12. Sonic Showers Are No Fun

thanks for hanging in there, all 64 of you. Rep

* * *

Taken Chapter 10

The door whooshed shut and suddenly neither of them knew what to do with themselves. They had made their positions clear to one another and now…hesitation and uncertainty.

"Seven, I'd like to go to sleep and I'd like you to lie with me until I do. You can stay after that if it's not too uncomfortable for you or you can go but – but please – lie with me until I fall asleep. Please?"

He sounded woeful and pathetic even to himself. This is not the Sheldon Cooper Seven of Nine bonded with in a collective of two. He had no idea what happened to that man.

"Yes. I'll need your assistance removing my garment. The Doctor was more interested in fashion than utility. I cannot reach the seam to release it, Sheldon."

"You – you want to lie in bed with me…naked?" His eyes were round and his heart was in his throat. The woman of his dreams, the woman he loved, Seven of Nine, needed help to get naked.

"Of course. And you shall be naked also. Nude, if you prefer the more artistic and less coarse term, but either way, I want to feel your skin against mine. Please, Sheldon Cooper, this is harder than I thought it would be."

Her words seemed to give him both energy and strength and he smiled and offered her his hand to guide it to the difficult seam. She turned around and pointed in the general direction of her back and there it was, easily reached and just as easily moved downward, revealing flawless white skin from the tops of her shoulders down to her buttocks and below as the cat suit separated on its seam. The seam ran from the middle of her neck to a point between her legs where it divided into seams going down the inside of each leg.

Seven toed off her heels and sighed in relief. The sigh caused him to smile and he easily opened the seam down one thigh and then the other. He stood and she turned around and he pulled the garment off her shoulders and she easily stepped out of the legs.

Sheldon started to fold the garment but she simply tossed it over a chair and stepped in against him. Apparently the Doctor was not a big fan of underwear because she wore none. He blushed and looked away but she smiled and took his chin in her fingers and turned his head back to face her.

"Do I please you, Sheldon? I've never been naked, nude, with a man or a woman, and I don't know how I…"

"You are aesthetically pleasing to me, Seven. You are perfection while I…I am somewhat less aesthetically pleasing, I'm sure."

"I read your journal entry. You said I was a beautiful Borg. And a beautiful woman. That touched me that you thought someone as ugly as a Borg drone was beautiful."

"Seven, 'let your hair down', please. I have wanted to run my fingers through your hair since that time you came to dinner. It frames your face and…" She shook her hair out and he ran his fingers through the silky softness. "So soft, Seven. Just as I imagined."

He cupped her cheek in his palm, inadvertently touching her Borg implant that half-circled her left eye and she closed her eyes and shuddered and leaned against him. "Did I hurt you? I didn't realize – " She cut him off.

"Do it again. The feeling of your palm against my implant…amazing, Sheldon. It was like nothing I've ever felt." He stroked the implant with the pads of his fingertips and she gasped and shuddered, wrapping her arms around him and holding herself upright.

"Maybe we should lie down, Seven, before you fall down." He was joking and she laughed. He had never heard her laugh before and he had the impression that she hadn't laughed much in her life. He liked it.

"Yes. My limbs feel…strange. Not a bad 'strange', just…strange. All tingly."

She reached for the tongue of his zippered coveralls and raised one eyebrow as if asking permission and he nodded. Sheldon stepped out of his coveralls and pulled off his boots and socks.

"I'm going to shower, Seven. I'll just be a moment." He walked into the small shower and was not at all surprised when she followed him. "Y'know, Seven, on Old Earth, showers were streams of temperature-regulated water and body wash. I miss them. The sonic shower is convenient and efficient and uses no real energy but…"

"Then we will holo-program ourselves an Old Earth shower and you can wash my hair and we will copulate in the shower. I have seen displays sent to me by B'elanna that recount how 'shower sex' is still quite common on some worlds. Earth still has showers, Sheldon. Sonic showers are more efficient on a starship but I do not believe they will prove as enjoyable as one which dispenses liquids all over one's body."

Sheldon's gaze rarely strayed below her collarbones as they turned in the sonic shower. From what he'd seen when he opened the seam, her skin was pale and flawless, almost like it was new.

Seven's eyes were everywhere, taking in the childhood scars on his knees and elbows, the new scar where the Croom blade had almost taken him from her, and the sleek planes of his body. She vowed to force him to increase his caloric intake as well as strengthen his cardiovascular system through period exercise in the ship's gym.

Her fingertips barely grazed his chest and abdomen but lingered along the fine line of hair that led downward to his genitals.

"I wish to copulate, Sheldon Cooper, if you are not too tired. I know all about copulation, coitus, intercourse, from the databases, You will insert your sex organ and thrust a few times and ejaculate and then roll over and sleep. I will rise and dress and occupy my time with research into our situation. I do not see the experience interfering with your REM cycle."

Sheldon lost it. It was too much. He started to giggle and wheeze and then he almost collapsed into a pile of laughing bones and flesh. Seven of Nine was too precious for words. Her dry delivery of facts left him defenseless. He leaned back against the wall and drew her close to him.

"Seven, do not believe everything you read in those databases. You describe a mechanical process and leave out the preparatory steps necessary for coitus, or 'copulation' if you prefer."

"Elaborate, Sheldon Cooper. The databases and the recordings provided by B'elanna Torres – "

"No wonder she's in a bad mood all the time. Listen, One of Two, that in no way describes how it will be between us. For one thing, you've totally forgotten about foreplay."

Seven immediately noticed the use of 'One of Two' and found that for Sheldon Cooper, it was the implied intimacy of the sentence he used it to modify.

"Foreplay?" The databases she'd accessed had been clinical and descriptive of physical preparation and changes of her body during copulation. Nothing was mentioned about this 'foreplay'.

"Preparation for coitus. It constitutes a series of physical and emotional touches and exchanges that increase arousal, stimulate the hypothalamus and prepare the body for coitus. It is more physical than simply touching or exchanging words and glances as we have done so far. It implies trust and - "

"I trust you, Sheldon. Continue, please."

"Very well. In some – "

"I meant, Two, to continue with actual 'foreplay'. I think I understand the mechanics of copulation. Proceed," Seven whispered, "but isn't the bed in your quarters far superior to the floor of the sonic shower?"

**[A/N: The obvious sex will appear in my LJ page once I post it. Check my profile for notes and access. Rap]**

Six weeks later

"Two, I must regenerate. I shall see you in the mess hall for breakfast." She placed a long, lingering kiss on his lips and smiled, something she seemed to do a lot lately, and pulled herself from his grasp and dressed and left.

Sheldon thought about rolling over into the spot she'd vacated but knew that if he did that he'd fall back to sleep and miss the opportunity to 'run into' the Captain in the mess hall without Seven's knowledge.

He showered, dressed in his black coverall and made the bed, something that Seven often remarked on. "We're just going to tear it up tonight, Two. Why do you expend energy uselessly?"

* * *

He dropped by Engineering to speak with B'elanna. She and Tom had 'broken up' and Tom was in limbo re quarters and it was a 'golden opportunity' to kill two birds with one stone.

"Good morning, B'elanna Torres. Are there any tasks with which I might occupy my time after breakfast?" He was bored. He had no duty station on _Voyager_ and so he scrounged around looking for tasks to keep him busy.

"The plasma packs on deck 2, section 6, need a hands-on diagnosis, Sheldon, if you think you're capable." She knew he was. He was constantly surprising people with his ability to learn new tasks and frequently improve upon how things got done.

"Fine. I'll see to it. Now, you and Tom – " B'elanna interrupted him with a raised hand.

"Don't go there, Sheldon Cooper. Tom and I are finished. We don't want the same things and I'm tired of being pushed and shoved someplace I don't want to go!" Her voice grew in pitch and volume until Sheldon felt his eardrums might suffer permanent damage.

"B'elanna Torres, Tom requires you in his life. You know he does. This sudden abruption of a strong and lasting relationship makes no sense. Surely – "

B'elanna swung her fist and almost hit Sheldon. He had been prepared for her response just as he had been on those days when he had to awaken Penny before 11am. He deftly dodged her punch . Overextended, B'elanna fell forward into Sheldon's arms and he suddenly found himself in a crushing embrace with a sobbing Klingon-human hybrid.

'_Oh Lord, who knows what debilitating ailment I'll catch from the mucus and other fluids she's spewing all over me!'_

She calmed down enough to be understood. "Sheldon, take me to sickbay. I need the doc – " and promptly lost consciousness leaving Sheldon carrying 130 pounds of limp Engineer to sickbay. _'She is much heavier than she looks.'_

Sickbay

While Leonard fussed over some minor gadget, B'elanna pulled Sheldon to the side of the bio-bed and whispered, "You can't tell Tom, Sheldon. It's too late anyway. It'll be all over by the time he gets back from his away mission. Just do me a favor, okay?"

"Sure. Anything." Sheldon had never see the gruff engineering officer look so sad and afraid.

"Tell him that I love him. That my last thoughts were of him and that I'm glad he was away when I died. Do that for me, please?"

"You're not dying! You're just tired, exhausted, yes, but not dying, B'elanna" He was terrified of death in others, especially those he felt a connection with. He could handle his own death but not the thought of any of _Voyager_'s crew passing on.

"Yes, she is, Dr. Cooper. She's in the end stage of Roshmir's Syndrome, a type of cancer that is incurable and is only found in Klingon-human hybrids. It is aggressively quick and painful and sadly, B'elanna has only hours or days at most to live. I can make her comfortable but that is all. We've held it off for months but now it occupies too great a volume of her organs and she is close to her death."

"You're giving up? Surely there is something you can do? What good are you if you let people die 'comfortably' but wouldn't allow me the same dignity? You're a hypocrite and don't deserve to bear my friend's name."

"Sheldon, perhaps you should leave and allow…"

"No! Can't you operate? Cut it out? Buy her some time?" He was panicking. He was terrified of death in others. He didn't want to be 'left behind' again.

"Go, Sheldon. You're not making this any easier…"

"Easier? Easier? There is an Old Earth poem that perhaps you people have lost track of, just as you seem to have forgotten that it is human nature to fight Death. It goes 'Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.' You people have lost your 'rage', Doctor."

The Doctor pushed Sheldon away from the bio-bed and made some adjustments to instruments and then gave B'elanna a hypospray of some sedative.

The bed glowed and B'elanna's body suddenly looked like a holographic CT Scan. "See the areas in green? That's the cancer. See how it's taken over everything? There's nothing that can be done."

"That is totally unacceptable, Leonard, totally. Computer, query 1. Can cellular structures shown in green on the doctor's display be 'tagged' and separated from the remaining display? Query 2. Can the transporter lock onto those cells and transport them into a collection vessel? Run query."

"Query 1: Affirmative. All cells have been 'tagged'. Query 2: Transporter has a lock on those cells. Interrogative: provide location of the containment vessel and prepare a level 4 containment field and initiate transport of tagged cells."

The doctor answered and the computer droned on in monotone. "Beginning transport. Duration: 7.6 minutes." A transporter scan beam began slowly making its way from the top of B'alanna's head towards her feet.

The EMH seemed vaguely disturbed by the turn of events and began making notes into a padd. "I can have a paper to present upon returning to Federation-controlled space on Non-invasive Tagging and Transport of Various Carcinomas. It is truly remarkable."

"Excellent! Leonard, start thinking outside of the box. It's why I gave you the name of an _experimental _physicist instead of one of the theoretical ones. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see about those pesky plasma packets on Deck 2, Section 6. And tell B'elanna to quit being so difficult and just marry Paris and put us all out of our misery."

He stopped by the mess hall but Neelix told him he'd just missed Captain Janeway and that it was a good thing, too, since she was in a 'crappy' mood.

Sheldon perused Neelix' various breakfast offerings and decided to skip eating entirely and head for Deck 2. Between the nasty thing that was growing in the Level 4 Containment Vessel in sickbay and the 'used food' that Neelix was offering, he'd lost his appetite.

Next: Sheldon goes home, sort of…


	13. Preparing for Departure

Short but I'm working on the grand finale.

Rep

* * *

Taken Chapter 11

B'elanna and Tom finally put the crew of Voyager out of their collective misery and married. The wedding was held on the holodeck and combined Earth and Klingon elements and the reception that followed in the mess hall was an incredible morale booster for the crew.

"Sheldon, tell me about the marriage customs on Earth of your time. Why must the bride wear white and what is the significance of B'elanna Torres' assault on my person with a bouquet of flowers?"

"Um, well, the marriage ceremony is ages old and has its roots in antiquity. The woman leaves her family and joins the groom's. She takes his name and – "

"So it is a trade transaction as we witnessed on Talos 5?"

"No! Well, perhaps in your view but the idea of women as 'chattel' is long abandoned. The man and woman form a legal collective of sorts and live their lives with and for each other and their children. As for the bouquet you caught…superstition, nothing more, Seven."

She moved closer to him and leaned up and whispered, "Then you and I, beloved Two, are 'married'?"

"Um, er, ah, I suppose that's a possible descriptor for our unique relationship, One. Yes, I'd say that…[gulp]…one could say that…we're married."

"Then may I suggest, _husband, _that we follow what the databases say is a tradition and consummate our marriage?" She flicked her tongue against his ear and he shuddered and blushed deeply and she giggled, something she rarely did outside of their quarters.

"One, we consummated our marriage twice last night. Surely…" He was teasing her and she responded in typical Borg fashion.

"I want what I want when I want it, Two. Come, you know that resistance is futile…"

* * *

6 months later

Sheldon went to the mess hall and asked Neelix to make a clear broth for Seven. She'd been sick ever since returning from an away mission to a planet that was nothing more than swamp and a few raised hillocks where the indigenous people lived in absolute squalor.

"Something light and please, Neelix, none of your experimental cuisine. Perhaps the pleemok broth that Mr. Tuvok thinks so highly of?"

"For Seven, anything, Sheldon. I always skipped that planet. The food was inedible. Surely Seven didn't eat any of the local fare?"

The ship gave a sudden lurch sending everything in Neelix' kitchen flying. The two men picked themselves up and Neelix glanced out the porthole and muttered "We've dropped out of warp."

Sheldon's com badge bleeped and he answered, "Dr. Sheldon Cooper," and heard, "Get up to the bridge, pronto. There's something here we need your help with." It was Chakotay and he sounded excited.

* * *

Bridge

Sheldon stepped off the turbolift onto the bridge. It was the first time he'd been here without an escort that hustled him into and out of Janeway's ready room. He looked around and saw Chakotay motioning him over to where the Captain sat.

"Sheldon, what do you make of that?" She pointed to a giant view screen and Sheldon couldn't figure out just what she meant and said so. "It's a wormhole! But what is so unique about it? We've seen several – "

"Magnify and stabilize the image, please," she said to someone at one of the console's behind her.

An image filled the screen and Sheldon walked over to the view screen, drawn to what he saw tumbling around, seemingly out of control – and what loomed menacingly behind it.

"Oh, crap on a cracker! That's a space shuttle from my time. It looks a little different than the NASA series so it must be foreign. Can you focus on one spot and synchronize the image so that it's not twisting and turning?" Trying to focus on the tumbling spacecraft was making him sick.

Almost immediately the image quit rotating and Sheldon could make out Cyrillic characters along the upper fuselage. "It's Russian. From the Russian Federation. The US had abandoned the space program just before I…left. Has there been any contact? Radio, light, anything?"

"None. Our scans show very weak life signs aboard but there has been no communication of any kind. Radio?"

"The existence of sub-space had not yet been proven…oh, my, yes, another reason why my formulae must be published. They open the door to understanding sub-space and it's potentials. Have communications scan the band width from 90mhz up through 500mhz and listen carefully, please."

Janeway nodded and pointed to Harry Kim who was manning communications.

"Ma'am, I'm getting…something but…"

"On speaker, Mr. Kim." Terse and impatient as always.

There was a collective gasp as the wormhole rotated on some axis of it's own and there, through the vortex, the bridge crew saw – Earth. They were home.

"Can you transport the crew over to _Voyager_? You can't put a tractor beam on something that flimsy. The tidal forces might tear it apart and the crew compartment is probably not airtight. It's the only answer. There's no way one of _Voyager's_ shuttlecraft could dock with that thing even if it was flying straight as an arrow."

Janeway looked up at Chakotay who smiled grimly and nodded. There was an unwritten rule in space travel just as there'd been on Earth's oceans long ago: render aid to vessels in distress.

"We'll beam the directly to sick bay. Alert – "

"Captain, if I might interject…" He looked toward the two senior officers and waited impatiently for an affirmative response. Janeway was very prissy about her authorities.

"Go ahead, Dr. Cooper, interject away."

"Beam them to cargo bay 2 and isolate them from any contact with crew or higher technology. Then, and only then, put a gentle tractor beam on their shuttle and bring it aboard cargo bay 3. That way there is no potential loss of life should the craft break up."

"Well, why cargo bay 2, Sheldon?" Chakotay couldn't see the reason for Cooper's suggestion. "Why not just beam them to cargo bay 3 to begin with?"

"Because I see the means by which I'll be returning to my own time, Commander Chakotay, just as we all know I must. You are required to minimize corruption of any other timelines and thus must isolate the crew of the shuttle. This opportunity is God-sent and if I ever see my mother again, I suppose I'll have to apologize although there still remains the issue of scientific proof that – "

"What makes you believe that the Earth we see through the wormhole is _your _Earth?"

"That strange wailing sound you hear on their frequency?" They all heard 'Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' over the loudspeaker. "That is the sound of the Wolowitz calling for its mother."


	14. Hope Collapsing

To the 'Guest' who takes what others create leaving nothing but bitter comments because it's not to their liking…bite me, you bloody taker. Anonymity make you pecker hard?

To the rest of you loyal and nice people, you get chapters 12 & 13 because I can't remember the append command and my keyboard is acting wonky since I spilled my beer in it.

Reparata

* * *

Taken Chapter 12

"Sheldon Cooper to Seven of Nine, please join me in cargo bay #2 if you are feeling well enough."

"Sheldon, I am fine. Just something I picked up on the planet. The Doctor says I'm fine. I shall see you there momentarily."

Sheldon waited patiently for the beings to resolve in transport and motioned to the two security crewmen to 'stand down'. The crew of the Earth shuttle were removing their helmets, although cautiously.

"I am Ivana Sementova, commander of the shuttle. You are…"

"Sheldon? Sheldon Cooper? What the – "

"Hello, Howard. It is good to see you. Commander Sementova, you are safe although I'm not sure that the same can be said of that bucket of poor engineering you chose to slip the surly bonds of Earth within. If you will hold your questions until I have had a chance to explain your situation – "

"You're dead! You disappeared and we never found you, not a trace. They said you were dead. What the fu – "

Seven of Nine entered the cargo bay, stood beside Sheldon and twined her fingers in his. She no longer used cargo bay #2 to regenerate. B'elanna Torres had helped move her regeneration chamber to their (meaning Sheldon's) quarters.

"Sheldon – you dog, you!" Wolowitz was eyeballing Seven and although Sheldon knew that Seven could easily dispose of his friend, he still took exception to his leer.

"Howard, be respectful of my wife. Bernadette would cut you off if she could see the leer on your face. It's disgusting and totally inappropriate. Now, you gentlemen have been blessed with several unique opportunities, the most important of which is that you're still alive and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future – except for Mr. Wolowitz, of course, if he doesn't quit ogling my wife."

"Wife! Wife? You're dead less than a month and you're _married?_" Howard was still focused on Seven's rather stunning appearance.

"We don't have time for this, Howard. Commander, you must return to Earth, the Earth of your time, and…and I must return with you. Let me explain – "

"You must not – please, Sheldon, there has to be another way." They both ignored the shuttle crew. This was between them and them alone.

"One, we have discussed this possibility and now it is here. If I don't return, if I don't publish my findings, the world may be changed catastrophically. It's the Butterfly Effect. I must set things right else none of this may come to pass; you understand, don't you?"

"Then I will accompany you into your past. We will still be together, still One and Two of Two. I will pack our things. Do not leave without me, Sheldon. I know how you think. I cannot continue without you."

"Fine. But hurry. We're wasting time we don't have."

Seven cupped his cheek and kissed him thoroughly and then glared at Howard and left. Howard just stared at her ass as she left.

"You're married to _her_? How? It's only been…"

"Howard, be quiet." He turned back to the commander. "Now, I am Doctor Sheldon Cooper. More than a year ago I was taken by a Harvester Probe and ended up on board this ship. I assume from Howard's previous outburst that time 'here' is on a different scale than time on 21st century Earth so we have less time than I thought."

He explained that the crew would be taken back to Earth, dropped off on a beach somewhere to find their own way back to civilization. He, Sheldon Cooper, would then travel to the Magnetic North Pole and transmit his formulae to various universities and then disappear. It was fate and they must put things right or there would be temporal consequences that might well tear the universe apart.

"Where are we?" The Russian demanded.

"I cannot tell you that. It would upset things back on Old Earth. You should be glad to participate in a great adventure that makes your trip into space seem inconsequential, I know, but you will all enable Earth to avoid a great loss. That is all I can say."

"Wait, you say time 'here' is not the same as time on 'Old Earth'? There is a 'new Earth'?" The Russian woman was having a hard time wrapping her head around the situation.

"The rate of time apparently passes differently here. For example, I have been here nearly a year while 'down there' time has crawled by. I've been to places and seen things you can only imagine…and I've found my soul mate and we are together."

'Tuvok to Dr. Cooper' his com badge chimed and all the astronauts, or cosmonauts given that it was a Russian spacecraft, looked on in interest.

"Yes, Commander?" Sheldon didn't want Tuvok around. He was obviously nonhuman and that would increase the curiosity factor 100-fold. They were already looking at everything, taking it in, making mental notes.

"Have security bring the travelers to Cargo Bay #3 quickly. The wormhole is destabilizing."

A/N: I detest cliffies so check out the next chapter. A review or comment would be nice but it's not necessary. I'll just cry myself to sleep...lol

Rep


	15. The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

A/N: This was harder to write for me. So much of how I feel is in Seven right now.

Reparata

* * *

Taken Chapter 13

They fairly ran to Cargo Bay #3 and despite his misgivings, none of the cosmonauts seemed to notice Mr. Tuvok's ears. Instead, they stared out the shuttle bay port at open space.

"Please board the shuttle. We are running out of time if we're to get you all to safety." He turned to one of the security crewmembers and asked him for his phaser.

"I'll need to destroy any premature evidence of your existence back on Earth. Even sinking the shuttle won't do. I'll need to wreck all the technology."

Tuvok handed Sheldon his own phaser and nodded. He could not fault his logic. Tom Paris rushed in and began walking to the shuttlecraft but Tuvok motioned him over and spoke quietly with him. From the look on Tom's face, he was not taking the news that Cooper was taking the shuttle on a one-way trip well.

"Sheldon, you can't. I can fly these guys down and then drop you off. If time really does crawl down there, then I'm certain the Captain will wait for us. You'll have time to transmit your data and come back home where you belong."

"We don't have time to debate the issue, Tom. The wormhole is destabilizing and you might not make it back and that would be disastrous for all involved".

Sheldon fiddled with the phaser and shot Tom Paris, stunning him into unconsciousness. "Mr. Tuvok, my apologies to Tom and…and please tell Seven that 'Two loves her and always shall'."

He turned and ran up the ramp and into the shuttlecraft and prepared the others for flight. He looked out the windscreen at Tuvok who had mustered the security crew into a line and was giving the shuttlecraft the Vulcan hand salute.

'_Live long and prosper, Mr. Tuvok. I fear I shall do neither.'_

The shuttle was just plunging into the wormhole when Seven ran into the shuttle bay, out of breath. "Wait! Sheldon, you prom – "

"Seven of Nine, he is doing what must be done to prevent a temporal catastrophe of unbelievable magnitude. The needs of the many – "

"Damn you, Tuvok! Go jump in the recylcler!" For Seven it was an uncharacteristically emotional outburst. The Vulcan wondered if her human emotional development wasn't progressing faster than anyone had anticipated. He would mention it to the Captain in his report.

"Dr. Cooper left you a message I'm not certain I fully grasp but he said to tell you that 'Two loves you and always shall'. Is that of significance to you? I know of no – "

He was talking to her back. Seven had turned away and walked out of the shuttle bay.

* * *

Sheldon's palms are sweating like a recovering alcoholic suddenly discovering that he works in a liquor store. He can't find a comfortable position in the normally disgustingly comfortable pilot's seat and his nose itches but he doesn't dare remove his fingers from the shuttle's delicate controls.

They enter the wormhole at the center of it's gaping mouth and it's like every amusement park ride rolled into one. Despite the 'fly by wire' computer-controlled stabilization programs, the shuttle is dancing within the blue vortex like a winged maple seed in a windstorm. He can hear someone behind him lose his stomach contents and for a second he smiles. _Welcome to my world, Howard!_

It's over in seconds and the blue and white marble that's his home planet comes into clear focus as the ship stabilizes into normal flight.

"Okay, I'm going to dump you off on the coast of Nova Scotia and then slip down and under the radars and head for the MNP. It shouldn't take you long to make your way into a town. Remember, not a word about where you've been and what you've seen!"

He hears Howard muttering directly behind him and he turns in the command chair and glares at him. "Talking behind my back, Howard, really?"

"Sheldon, you haven't thought this through at all, have you? You don't have to be the one to transmit your data. Give me the damned disk and once we're rescued and after a 'suitable time', I'll sneak into CalTech and do it for you. You don't have to sacrifice yourself and – "

"Why Howard! Excellent idea. Perhaps…you might let them know somehow…"

They both knew who 'them' were: Raj, Leonard and, of course, Penny. He just didn't know how he could say 'Sheldon's alive and happy' without spilling his guts under what would be a withering cross-examination from Penny, especially.

The Russian commander sat down in the co-pilot's seat and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy. None of them would dare breathe a word of their adventure unless they wished to spend the remainder of their lives in mental institutions or worse.

"This is a noble and brave thing you are doing, Tovarisch, and it is appreciated by my children and by my crew. Take the opportunity Wolowitz is offering you and go back to your life in the future secure in the knowledge that you have preserved the past."

He couldn't help it. His face started twitching. He blurted out the 'preserved past's' upcoming war and what would be the outcome of it – millions, maybe billions, dead or wishing they were, and long, hard years of struggle to merely survive as a species.

"We shall prepare ourselves, Dr. Cooper. Now, land this incredible ship and go home to your wife. Live long and be happy."

* * *

On Voyager

"It's been a week, Seven, and we must move on. I'm sorry but we're running low on provisions and the wormhole has totally collapsed. If he could have made a return flight, it would have been by now."

"Yes, I understand. You must move on but…can't we give him one more week? Please? I have never asked you for anything but I'm asking now. Just one more week?"

Her heart went out to the young blonde who was trying hard not to break down in tears and appear less than she felt she had to.

"I'll compromise – three more days but then we have to move on, Seven. I miss him, too. Dismissed."

* * *

The shuttlecraft easily left Old Earth behind it but there was no visible sign of the wormhole but Sheldon trusted the instruments and set a course for the last known position. Perhaps some entrance into the future remained and he was determined to find it.

He was surprised to see that it had moved significantly from its previous position and had settled on the LaGrange point between the Earth and the Moon. The more he thought about it the more sense it made. The point at which the gravity of the moon and that of Earth canceled each other out was logical.

Carefully plotting a course as outlined by the computer, he engaged the small warp drive and soon was tumbling and twisting through the wormhole, finally bursting forth as the warp drive cut out exactly as programmed.

Sheldon's hands trembled as he checked his position against the last know position of the _Voyager _and he almost cried when the results were computed and displayed.

He was nearly 3 years ahead of _Voyager's _projected course_. _Somehow the wormhole's exit point had shifted and he was cast out into space ahead of the starship. He would never survive 3 years on the shuttle. Even after shutting down everything but life support and cannibalizing and recycling everything imaginable, he would starve or freeze to death when energy reserves were exhausted.

Thoroughly discouraged, he looked at the phaser he'd casually thrown aside. Problem resolved.

* * *

Onboard Voyager

Three months after Sheldon's return to Old Earth, Seven began to mix occasionally with the crew. Janeway had been adamant that she leave her quarters and 'get out and let your hair down'. So she did.

She became a regular at Sandrine's after duty hours although she always returned to her quarters alone. Seven became a popular pool and poker player and soon had 'friends' among the crew and enjoyed a budding social life. She always had invitations to sit with various groups whenever she came into the mess.

The nights were the hardest. Her slow change-over from Borg drone to human woman soon allowed her normal sleep, although still augmented by the occasional regeneration cycle. She'd lost track of the number of nights she'd either tossed and turned, unable to sleep or had been awakened by dreams of Two.

By the end of the first year, Seven had both a position of rank within the command structure of Voyager as well as several suitors. Of them, Harry Kim was the most tenacious and least offensive. They shared the occasional dinner or evening at Sandrine's but Seven still always returned to her quarters alone.

Finally defeated by time, Harry Kim gave up the chase. "Tom, he's dead and she just won't let go. I can't compete with a dead man she hardly even knew!"

B'elanna sat Harry down and explained certain facts that he'd been either too blind or too stubborn to see. Seven considered herself in a collective consisting of two beings. She was One and Sheldon had been her Two. She simplified the arrangement for Harry with three words: "She was married."

Harry Kim decided then and there on a new course of action.

The second year had been long and arduous. Voyager had been involved in a running fight with a scavenger race and had suffered casualties and the loss of several crew members. Seven was drafted into the basic command group and given additional duties to pick up the slack. She was kept busy and seemed happy.

* * *

"So, Seven, how are things? I made Gorth soup and cornbread and saved you some. I'll heat it up and bring it out to you."

Seven paled but then nodded and went and sat with Tom and B'elanna and Harry Kim, her usual circle of friends at the mess table. Harry smiled warmly and even B'elanna seemed happy.

"Seven, Tom and I have news. I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby!" Neelix had placed a bowl of the steaming 'soup' and a platter of cornbread beside her and she ate mechanically, her mind thinking back to the first time she'd tried _his_ favorite of all Neelix' offerings.

Conversation died as the first of her tears plopped into the soup that Sheldon referred to as 'chili'. The cornbread, normally one of her favorites, turned to cardboard in her mouth.

She looked up at B'elanna and smiled. "That's wonderful. I'm so hap – " and bolted from the table and ran out of the mess hall.

Harry followed, uncertain whether his company would be rejected or accepted. She was hurting and he wanted to make things better.

"How stupid of me! Tom, it's been 2 years since he left Voyager and I never stopped to think – " She'd realized instantly that the combination of her news and the meal and the date…

"Hey, it's okay. Maybe we could go over later and visit. Y'know, talk her out of her funk. Harry's just going to make things worse but the idiot doesn't see that it's a hopeless cause. She'll always be One of Two."

Harry's efforts weren't totally doomed to failure. Seven could see how having Harry in her life would take the sharp edges off the days. He was polite, handsome, smiled at almost everything and he did what he could to make her happy.

* * *

Shuttlecraft

He was almost out of air. He had put on the spacesuit and donned the helmet and watched as the Kirgon ship fired another blast of some weapon that had shattered his shields with one blow and destroyed the structural integrity of the little ship he'd called home for nearly two years. Atmosphere had vented and he went through his 'last ditch' preparations.

The letter to Seven was folded neatly and stowed above the pilot's seat and he'd recorded a last subspace message and sent it ahead of the shuttlecraft down the course he hoped Voyager would be following. He set the phaser on the proper setting and began methodically destroying anything that might provide any clues to either his home planet or advanced technology. He honored Janeway's damned Prime Directive.

He felt the ship lurch as a tractor beam snatched at it and then whispered the last word he'd ever say in command.

"Energize."


	16. The Ugly Truth About Things

Too damned hot to do much other than lay in the wading pool we got for my dog (who drinks from it occasionally), work on crap no one reads and feel sorry for myself as I drink beer and munch on the occasional Cheesepuff. I have my laptop on a flotation cushion so don't worry me electricuting myself.

Rparata

* * *

Taken – Chapter 14

_He felt the ship lurch as a tractor beam snatched at it and then whispered the last word he'd ever say in command._

"_Energize."_

* * *

The dead shuttle provided no real secrets or spoils so the Kirgon ship just jettisoned it from their hold and continued on their way in search of innocent ships and plunder. It was the pirate way in any culture.

Voyager

"The new shuttlecraft will be ready for its first long range sweep in a week, Seven. I think you might enjoy getting out and seeing how it handles. The slipstream drive is functional and I'd feel better if someone from the design team were on board."

"Normally I would comply, Captain Janeway, but Harry is navigating and there is no one to watch J.R., so it wouldn't be right for me to go."

"Seven, we do have daycare – Uncle Neelix – remember?" Neelix looked after any children who were either orphaned over time or whose parents were on duty or on away missions. He was good with children and they all doted on their 'Uncle Neelix'.

"Please, Captain. He's so young…"

"Fine. I'm sure Harry will prefer that but I had to offer you the opportunity after all the hard work and hours you put in on design and construction. Oh, we've all decided on a name – The Cooper."

Seven smiled and thanked the captain and went in search of Harry to reassure him that J.R. wouldn't be languishing in Neelix' care. She wondered what Sheldon would have thought about the Delta Flyer being named after him? Probably would have boosted his ego to dangerous levels.

_I miss you, Two, so much but as you told me, life goes on._

* * *

The Delta Flyer launched a week later. Harry had kissed Seven tenderly on the cheek and then hugged his son and boarded the sleek slip-stream craft.

"All ready, Harry?" Tom Paris was anxious to get underway and begin the scan of the systems in Voyager's flight path. He felt alive for the first time in months.

"Yeah, Tom. All systems green on navigation. Weapons are on-line and we're ready to rip." He'd been working hard on the design and later the actual construction of the experimental craft. Between his son and Seven and his work, he was a happy man.

They were six days into the mission when Tom picked up a strange signal and changed course to investigate. The closer they came, the clearer it got until finally the computer could fill in the missing parts.

'_This is Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the shuttlecraft Venture calling the Federation Starship Voyager. I am heading toward you along the anticipated course that Voyager was following when I left. I have been in flight nearly two years and have valuable data on planets and systems to visit and, more importantly, to avoid. One, Two is coming home, just as I promised.'_

The message gave approximate position and status and repeated itself 4 more times and then the transmission ceased.

There was silence throughout the shuttle. Tom had tears in his eyes while Harry was the picture of controlled grimness. Tom missed his friend and told Harry to plot an intercept course.

"Tom, what for? That transmission was obviously automatic and for all we know Cooper has starved to death by now or the dilithium warp core has run out of fuel. Two years in flight? He's dead, Tom and besides, it's way out of our intended flight path."

"Ensign Kim, I am in command of this mission and I gave you an order! Plot the damned course and deal with the personal baggage on your own time. Make it so!"

If Tom Paris were honest with himself, he would admit that the chances of his friend being alive were scant but he owed it to him to try. If nothing else, they could give Seven the closure she needed and Harry some peace of mind. Cooper stood between the couple as if he were physically present.

"Intercept in 4.3 hours. Visual in 2.7 hours." Silence descended as the Flyer neared their intercept point. Tom toyed with the idea of sending a slipstream message back to Voyager but decided to wait until they made intercept.

"Tom, you know that he's dead, right? Two years cooped up in that shuttle would be hell not to mention food and fuel shortages. The Replicators could only do so much…"

Tom shot Harry a disgusted look. "Harry, even if he's dead, we owe it to him to recover the remains and give Seven some closure. You wouldn't have done what he did and neither would I, so show some damned respect!"

Time seemed to crawl by in the Delta Flyer and nothing more was said between the two friends until visual contact was made.

"I've got visual, Paris. Maximum magnification and…" Even from here they could tell that the shuttle was a dead stick. The rear door was partly torn off and the hull was clearly holed.

"So it's recovery instead of rescue. I'll get suited up for EVA." His voice contained the slightest hint of relief and satisfaction.

"No, Harry. It's my job as command pilot. Besides, he was my friend and yours until you decided to chase after Seven of Nine like a dog in heat. I don't think he'd appreciate the kind of care you'd take with – with any remains."

The Flyer closed on the shuttlecraft and Tom went EVA and entered through the torn loading ramp. It looked like Sheldon had destroyed any equipment or instruments that might give 'visitors' any additional technology or information. Tom noticed the folded paper above the command chair and removed it and put it in his sample bag. There was also a cloth package that contained several memory wafers from the computer.

His helmet cam recorded and then transmitted the images back to the Flyer. Harry noted how everything nonessential to flight and survival had been stripped and probably fed to the recyclers. The only instrument that was intact was the small transporter unit.

"Tom, there's a slow-blinking LED on the transporter. You don't suppose…"

"Good catch. I didn't notice it. I'll pull the containment buffer and bring it back. He stripped her bare and destroyed anything valuable in accordance with the Prime Directive. He did a good job for someone who thought it was…yeah, he called it 'a prejudicial crock of shit' and that it was evidence of a culture that wanted to control or contain the spread of knowledge."

"Let's head back, Tom. I think under the circumstances that we should abort the mission. Sheldon got us a lot more data than we could hope to find on this mission."

"On my way."

* * *

Voyager

"Captain, Ensign Paris has aborted the mission and is returning to Voyager. He requests that a medical team be on standby and that the transporter room be fully manned and ready. The Delta Flyer will rendezvous with Voyager in 110 hours. Most curious."

"Tuvok, did he say why he was aborting? Have they run into trouble?" Janeway's first concern was enemy activity. The away team was under strict orders to disengage and return to the ship if they ran into any trouble at all. The Flyer was too valuable to risk losing.

"I have related his entire message, Captain. That is all the information I have."

"Continue to monitor for additional transmissions. I need more information!" Impatient with not knowing, she became moody and snappish. The crew needed something to boost morale and the Captain was no exception.

The ship was alive with rumors and speculation about the aborted Flyer mission. Some thought that there might be sickness or injury since the transmission had asked for a medical team to be standing by while others thought they might have run into hostile alien spacecraft. No one was remotely close.

* * *

109 hours later

"This is the Delta Flyer. I believe we have a passenger on board. I do have critical intelligence that needs to be deciphered and reviewed. Please have medical and transporter standing by as requested."

Seven and most of the crew not on duty were gathered in the shuttle bay. J.R. was fussy and Seven held the 6 month old on her shoulder and talked softly to him.

"Daddy's coming home, J.R., and Uncle Tom says he's bringing along a 'passenger'. Do you know what he means? Won't you be glad to see your Daddy, J.R.?"

The baby just mashed his fist into his face and sucked on it. Seven just smiled and bounced him lightly to keep him occupied. _Neelix spoils this child. I will talk with Harry about –_

A growing murmuring that whipped through the crowd interrupted her thought. She pushed her way through the crowd and stood near where she knew the shuttle would dock.

The Flyer docked and the rear hatch opened and Tom Paris cautiously climbed down the ladder carrying something that he had cradled tightly against his body. The transporter chief carefully took it from his and then put it on an anti-grav sled and carefully maneuvered it to the transporter room.

Harry walked down the ladder and saw Seven and J.R. and trotted over and hugged them both. His smile faltered when Tom walked over and interrupted their reunion.

"Seven, I need you to come with me, please. Harry, you can come, too. I have something for you, Seven, but I think it's best that you get an explanation before I give it to you."

"Ensign Parish, what is your report? Why did you abort the mission and – " Captain Janeway wanted immediate answers to her questions.

"Um, ma'am, maybe this could wait until the transporter crew and medical are done? Please, Captain, it's – "

Harry glared at Tom and interrupted him. "Captain, we came across the shuttlecraft that Cooper used to return to Earth. It was hulled, stripped, and – "

"Damn it, Harry, have some human decency! The transporter buffer is full. He wasn't on board and his message clearly stated…"

"Captain Janeway to transporter room 2. Medical to transporter room 2."

Seven of Nine ran to the transporter room. Her heart was pounding and her fears and hopes intermingled and then J.R. started crying. By the time she got to the transporter room, the Medical team had hustled whatever was dumped from the containment buffer away to sickbay and the baby had sensed her fear and nervousness and was wailing.

Harry came up behind her and tried to talk with Seven but she just shook her head and took off for sick bay with J.R. crying on her shoulder.

She burst into sickbay, her heart pounding, wild-eyed and demanding answers. She pushed past Tom Paris who turned and put an arm around Seven in comfort.

"Here. He left this for you. I haven't looked at it if that's what you're worried about. Also, the message he had been transmitting for God knows how long said that 'Two was coming home', just as he promised." He handed her the letter he'd found on board the shuttlecraft.

Harry walked up beside Seven and tried to take J.R. but she needed something to cling to so he just put his arm around her in comfort.

Seven was crying softly and mumbling something equally unintelligible and the Doctor just smiled broadly as he worked on removing the EVA suit helmet from the man lying unmoving on the bio-bed.

They all gasped when the helmet was removed. A man with long, greasy hair and a matted beard stared up at them with piercing blue eyes that were sunken into his skull but missed nothing at all. The hunger in his eyes when he saw Seven and the briefest surge of joy was crushed when he saw Seven holding a baby and Harry Kim with his arm around them both.

His only thought was '_too late' _and then exhaustion, starvation and heartbreak broke him and he started to cry.

"All right, clear sickbay and let me work my magic. He's alive and that's what's important. Captain, I'll have my report for you as soon as the scans are finished."

More than anything, he wanted to preserve Sheldon's dignity when he cut off the suit. He dreaded what he'd find when it was removed. He also had concerns for Sheldon's state of mind and administered a sedative via hypospray.

"Welcome home, Sheldon. It's good to have you back," and he pressed the applicator against his neck. Sheldon's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and the EMH took in the group with his frown and pointed to the exit. "Out!"

* * *

"Paris, Kim, my ready room. I want to know exactly what happened on the away mission." Janeway knew that something had happened to create such hostility between the two friends. "Seven, why don't you take J.R. to Neelix and then talk with Dr. Cooper after the EMH completes his examination."

Seven's glance darted between the Captain and Harry. Harry nodded and said, "it's okay, Seven. Take J.R. over to Neelix and I'll meet you outside of sickbay when you're done. We have dinner plans, remember? First night back and all?" His voice contained a tone that ruffled Tom's feathers and caused Janeway to narrow her eyes.

"I – I'll let you know, Harry." She turned on her heel and walked rapidly to the mess hall. Her only thoughts were of Sheldon and his condition and his strange reaction to seeing her. She was proud of the progress she'd made in becoming more of a human being but she didn't have a clue what was going on with Sheldon Cooper.

* * *

Sickbay

The EMH would have been horrified if he'd been human but being a holographic representation of a programmed physician, he simply recorded his findings.

"Computer, establish a sterile field and cleanse patient, then begin bone and tissue regeneration on left arm, infuse digestive tract with Isotoluene 5% solution and begin nutrient feeding."

His work done and his patient stable and on the long road to recovery, he assembled his data and compiled a video report and submitted all to the Captain's padd and then sat and observed his patient.

On a whim, he replicated depilatory crème and removed the growth from the patients face and neck. He still didn't look like the man he met that first day on Voyager. He was emaciated, skeletal even, and the EMH compared his patient to images on file of Bajorans liberated from Cardassian work camps. Disgusting.

* * *

Janeway's ready room

Tuvok listened dispassionately to the recitation of the two officers standing before Captain Janeway. Ensign Paris was, of course, overly emotional while Ensign Kim was brusque and to the point.

"In summary, then, Ensign Paris, you aborted the mission after recovering the 'black box' and the transporter buffer as well as personal items from the shuttle and then returned to Voyager."

"Yes, ma'am, that's exactly right. I felt we had to investigate and recover any…remains if only because of the sacrifice…and to give Seven a sense of closure. It was our decision to abandon the mission and investigate the shuttlecraft."

"You acted irresponsibly, Mr. Paris," She noted the satisfaction that flitted across Harry Kim's face and then continued. "but exactly as I would have done in the same situation. The recovery of the sensor and internal logs that Dr. Cooper kept will be invaluable to us in the future. Dismissed."

Chakotay had been quiet during the entire debriefing and had been watching the two men with an occasional glance at Tuvok.

"Commander Tuvok, what are you thoughts on the situation?" The security chief often surprised him with insights that others overlooked.

"Ensign Paris' actions were in keeping with his previous behavior patterns but I find no fault in his actions, none at all. He acted out of compassion and a sense of duty. Ensign Kim's were out of personal interest and gain. His relationship with Seven of Nine clouded his judgment. I believe he wished to 'close the door' on Dr. Cooper for personal reasons."

"Interesting. I've read the EMH's summary and I believe we need to review the 'black box' records before making any further decisions or judgments. Dr. Cooper is in dire straits medically and the EMH has heavily sedated him while his systems recover from this on-going trauma. We'll meet again after debriefing our time-traveler." Janeway had other things on her plate but Sheldon Cooper was never far from her mind.

* * *

Sickbay

Seven sat beside the bio-bed and stared down at Sheldon. Her emotions were all over the place. She was ecstatic that he had returned but sad and confused because of his emotional reaction to her presence.

She had read the letter he'd left for her and her heart was aching to just wrap him in her arms and never let go. He wrote of their love and his hope for the future and the longing in his words made her hate herself for doubting that he would return.

"Seven, he will be sedated until his injuries have been treated and he shows signs of being able to function on his own. You'll have him all to yourself soon enough."

"Leonard, what do you make of his reaction to seeing me when you removed his helmet? There was joy in his face but then such disappointment and sadness. Have I changed that much? Am I…ugly now?"

Seven was the only person on Voyager who called the EMH 'Leonard'. She was one of the few who considered the EMH to be a person.

"No, no, no…not at all. I think…I believe that Sheldon saw you holding J.R. and how Ensign Kim had his arm around you and he concluded that you and Ensign Kim – "

"He concluded that I had abandoned our collective and formed another with Harry Kim and that J.R. is my child with Harry. I see. Thank you, Leonard, for your insight."

"Seven, it has been nearly two years since his return to Old Earth. Don't be too hard on yourself or him. As we discussed many, many times, there was no reason to expect him to return and you were moving on. He will not blame you – "

"No, Leonard. He will not blame me. He will turn from me and ignore my existence just as he once did. He is stubborn, headstrong, self-centered, egotistical but above all, he loves me and will want me to 'continue' my relationship with Harry Kim, thinking I have moved on and am 'happy'."

"Only you can convince him otherwise – unless you're satisfied with the status quo?"

"I am Seven Cooper, One of Two. That will never change. Never! Mr. Kim will have to find another babysitter."


	17. Home Is Where the Heart Is

Many of you asked how things were going on Earth so here's your answer.

Reparata

* * *

Taken Chapter 15

December, 22, 2012  
Pasadena, CA Old Earth

Howard called his friends from Houston and arranged for them to pick him up at the airport. He'd finally finished debriefing NASA. His hospital stay in Halifax, where he'd been treated for exposure and pneumonia as had most of the crew of the ill-fated Russian spacecraft had been brief but busy. His time in Houston had mostly been a retelling of his experiences.

The shuttle commander had been sent back to Russia as soon as the doctors felt she could travel and Howard worried that she'd be in deep shit with her government but the reception she got in Moscow was televised and she and her family were being treated like royalty.

The rest of the crew had returned to their homes and Howard faked a mini-relapse in order to get some time to himself. He'd managed to smuggle his laptop into the hospital when they'd been admitted and now he opened it up for the very first time since Sheldon had given it to him. It was Sheldon's laptop. His was somewhere in the great void along with pieces of the Russian shuttle.

He opened up the file labeled '7' and looked at the jpeg photos that filled the file. Sheldon's wife was beautiful and he looked happier than Howard had ever seen him. He didn't know if he could have left behind someone so beautiful in order to save the past and ensure the future.

Getting down to business, he sent the files marked 'Monopole' to all the addresses in Sheldon's email account along with a message that they'd been found and belonged to the world. He used his skills at hacking to bounce the ISPs around so that anyone trying to find a point of origination would end up looking in Nepal, Vanuatu, Borneo, Sydney or any of 23 other locations. Satisfied, he closed out the file and prepared to go home.

* * *

LAX  
December 22, 2012

Bernadette had slipped under the arms of the security guards and run to him as he left the jetway and entered the concourse. Cameras and microphones were shoved in his face but he ignored them all and kissed the fire out of the little woman who had become his wife just before his flight.

He greeted the others and asked about Penny. Leonard told him that she would meet them back at the apartment but that right now she was out 'looking for Sheldon', something she did a lot anymore.

"Well, Bernadette and I have to stop by and see my Ma and then we'll meet you at Leonard's. Seriously, guys, I have something that will knock your socks off but Penny has to be there. I'm not sure if it's a one off but I was told to open it once and in the presence of everyone. I got a list and we all need to be there. Hell, it's not like it's the end of the world. That was yesterday."

Leonard's apartment

Penny looked worse than he'd ever seen her. She'd lost weight, her hair was scraggly and she hadn't bothered to change clothes from her searching expedition. In short, she looked like a homeless person. And she was sitting in Sheldon's spot.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road, Howard. I stink and I want to shower and then sleep for a week. I got to find another job. They let me go because I missed too much time."

Howard opened up his messenger bag and took out three letters and handed them out to the right people and said, "You can't open these here. You have to do it in private. Those are the conditions and if you all don't promise right here and right now, the deal's off and you can all go to hell."

This brought protests from Leonard and Raj but Penny was quiet. She'd recognized the scrawl on the envelope and she would wait to read it.

"First, the Russian shuttle didn't crash. It's still up there someplace, just not anywhere you can see it. It's not there _yet._ Second, we didn't crash off the coast of Nova Scotia, we were brought back and set ashore. It just took us forever to find civilization. Lastly, if you breathe a word of any of this, you'll either be killed or put away for a very, very long time."

Everyone tried to say something at once and finally Bernadette put her fingers in her mouth and let fly one of her football whistles and the room quieted down.

"Thanks, Bernadette." "No problem, Howie. Go ahead. Tell them. Better yet, show them."

"Yeah. Okay, this may only work one time. I was told to run it when you were all together and sober and paying attention. Here goes."

Howard set the laptop down on the coffee table and opened a file on the desktop and sat back. He knew what to expect. Sheldon had been very specific about it. Besides, he'd been there when it had been made.

A holographic image of Sheldon Cooper in the cockpit of the Voyager shuttlecraft appeared. He was wearing his black coveralls and seated in the command chair. The wormhole was clearly visible behind him through the cockpit windows.

"Hello. You all know who I am and I hope this message finds you all well and healthy. First, I was really touched to hear how you all searched for me but believe me, you never would have found me. I'm not – well, take a look for yourself." He pointed out the window.

"Howard and I are 500 years in your future and we're going to come back to Earth to make sure the Butterfly Effect doesn't wreck that future. Howard can fill you in but the bottom line is – I'm happy and I'm glad to be able to do this for all of you. I hope to make it back to where my life is now once I drop Howard off at the bus station in Halifax. That's a joke."

Penny was crying silently but never taking her eyes of the hologram. Raj was staring in disbelief at the wormhole behind Sheldon and Leonard was grinning like an idiot.

"What to you on Old Earth has been months has been somewhat longer up here in the future. I've met a woman and we're married although I don't think it would be legal in California but since California doesn't exist any longer I don't think it matters."

"Howard will show you some photographs on my laptop. I just hope he remembered to send my solutions to String Theory out to all involved in similar research."

His voice changed, hardened and the look on his face was not one any of them had ever seen before.

"Now, listen up, people, because this is the really important part. There is a war coming that will kill billions of people and you all must survive. Howard has given you each an envelope and it contains your survival plan. I love you all and it would break my heart if even one of you failed to survive because you didn't believe Howard. It's true. Oh, by the way, I've met a Klingon hybrid and a true Vulcan who even knows about Spock! Again, Howard has details. Well, we must be off so live long and prosper." The hologram collapsed and there was silence and then pandemonium.

Howard grinned at Bernadette. They both knew that Sheldon would have loved this.

* * *

Penny's Apartment

Penny opened her letter from Sheldon hours later after spending a surprisingly enjoyable evening with her boys and Bernadette. Even without Sheldon being there physically, she knew he was there in spirit.

Raj had bedeviled Howard with questions about the wormhole and the spacecraft. Howard said what he could about the wormhole but knew nothing at all about the starship that had rescued them except that it had a way of keeping an open bay onto space without losing atmosphere. That set the gang to diagramming and writing formulas all over Sheldon's white boards.

She finally slipped away and showered and poured herself a glass of wine and read Sheldon's letter. She started to cry when his debit card fell from the letter. He knew she'd need financial help and somehow he'd put her name on his account years earlier without her knowing and now…she had access to his savings and checking accounts.

It was the closing that tore her up and then restored her faith in herself.

'_In closing, Penny, I know that you will do what you think is best despite the obvious evidence confronting you but I sincerely hope that the only woman I felt love for in the 21__st__ Century would, for once in her Nebraska-plagued life, do what I say. Use our money wisely but use it, Penny. I dread even thinking about the past without knowing you're safe and making it a better and brighter place for those who survive. Always, Moon Pie'_

In the coming years, Penny would read the letter before going to bed. She and Leonard had formed a relationship based on survival, not love, but love came sliding quietly into their lives anyway, just as Sheldon had hoped.

The couple survived the war and the dark winter that lasted for a few years together with Howard and Bernadette. They'd joined forces and finances and were prepared when the end came.

Sadly, Raj felt obligated to return to India and prepare his parents and family for the coming catastrophe and nothing was heard from him again.

* * *

Voyager  
Sickbay

Seven hovered over the sterile field that encompassed the bio-bed and watched for any signs that Sheldon was in distress. She knew that the instrumentation would alert the EMH to the slightest variance in any of the many systems and organs they watched over but still, she felt better, useful, maintaining her vigil.

She longed to touch him, to somehow give him her strength and hasten his return to awareness. She had much to explain but first she needed him to understand that what he saw and his conclusions were false.

She was Seven Cooper, One of Two, and nothing would change that.

The EMH watched from his office. The medbay systems were doing the best they could with what they had left to work with. His biggest concern was how long it was taking. By his estimates, Sheldon should have been conscious and alert but he slept on, in a natural sleep. Leonard was almost to the point of waking him when he heard Seven suddenly call out for him.

"Leonard, he's awake!" Her face hurt from smiling so broadly and her breathing was erratic and she felt this bubble of joy burst out of her and she leaned forward and kissed him gently the second the doctor had removed the sterile field.

"I've missed you so much, Sheldon. I've waited for you. I was not unfaithful. I have not yet had a child but hope to do so as soon as you're able to handle the middle of the night feedings. I do not love Harry Kim but I confess that I do love his son, his dead wife's baby boy, J.R. I've let nothing come between us. I am Seven Cooper, One of Two!"

He was so tired and he lacked the energy to even smile but he thought he felt his face change shape in a strange way. He took a deep breath and let it out and managed to say her name.

"Sev – en."

"Yes, Sheldon, Seven. It's so good to see you. I had almost given up hope. You _will _recover, Two. You _will_ be strong and healthy again. I want to hold you but the doctor says you have 'issues' and there are devices affixed to you to aid in your recovery. Your left arm – oh, Sheldon, your left arm…Leonard has begun the regeneration process and you'll soon have full use of it. I want to feel both your hands on me, understand?" She tried to make light of it but she was appalled at the stump that ended just below the elbow.

Next: Sheldon's Tale


	18. Growing Farther and Farther Near

Wrapping it up shortly. Thanks for your patience and reviews as I barf out my thoughts.

Reparata

* * *

Taken - Chapter 16

"Lost it on a trading run. Ran into – ran into a creature that looked like a griffon, an angry griffon. Hurt like the blazes but my friends saved me. Lost time recovering or I might have been back sooner and – "

"Shh, Sheldon. We have all the time in the world to talk about your adventures once we're back in our own quarters and I've had my fill of you. Shhh. Sleep now." He blushed at her comment but did as she said and was asleep again within a few seconds. His last conscious thought was that his wife always dealt best with subtleties of subtext. Meanings within meanings within…

Sheldon was eventually released to 'quarters and bed rest' and Seven spent the entire day before his return cleaning and rearranging things so that he would be as comfortable as possible.

She had a surprise for him as soon as he was able to handle walking unsupported. She had written a special holodeck program for the two of them.

He didn't talk much and Seven was concerned enough to ask Leonard about it but he dismissed her concerns by simply saying, "He was alone with no one to talk with for a long time, Seven. He just lost the need to hear his own voice. Talk with him. Ask him about his adventures. I think recording them would be a good thing to do. The Captain and the command group can use all the data they can get on the space ahead of us."

Sheldon insisted on walking to their quarters. His left arm was nearly whole again but he had limited use of his hand and very little control over his fingers. The nerves were still regenerating and he told Seven 'it's like having a lead glove on. It's heavy and I can't feel a damned thing with it.'

He ran out of 'steam' after walking just a few yards down the corridor to the turbolift. Seven returned with a wheelchair and they were soon in quarters. Sheldon felt like a total cripple and hated that he couldn't even stand long without help.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, you were near death and now you're back home and recovering. These things take time but I will be here with you and you'll be fully recovered shortly. Be patient with yourself, Sheldon."

He was too weak and tired too easily to do much other than hold Seven in his arms and talk quietly in short spurts of sentences. He hated being weak and he hated feeling so helpless but she just told him to be patient and the snuggled up against him and told him how happy she was.

* * *

Tom and B'elanna became frequent visitors and Neelix often brought J.R. to see Seven and to bring Sheldon small meals to sample. He'd added quite a bit to his menu and he wanted Sheldon's opinions.

He and the Tallaxian also talked about the places he'd been to and Seven recorded these sessions and sent copies to Captain Janeway.

"So, Sheldon, tell me your impressions of Demos IV. I found the people there to be most hospitable once they overcame their caution towards new visitors."

"I stopped there for provisions and to trade some of the junk I'd stripped from the shuttlecraft as nonessential. Nothing that would violate the rules, I assure you. They have a tuber there that tastes like a potato and I cooked it in many ways and the recycler seemed to be able to handle it's complex proteins. Some things the recycler would reject. That was frustrating."

He seemed to zone out for a few seconds but then said, almost as an after-thought, "That's where I lost my arm."

Neelix looked to Seven for guidance and she subtly shook her head. She didn't think Sheldon was ready to discuss that particular adventure.

They talked about systems to avoid and Sheldon mentioned that there were Kirgon pirates in areas that Neelix had said were safe and calm. He'd had run-ins with them and they seemed to hound him for the last months of his journey.

Sheldon slept a lot and sometimes he'd dream and wake up sweaty and crying and Seven would help him into the sonic shower and then wash his face with a cool cloth. He either couldn't or wouldn't tell her about his dreams but she never pressed him.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, Sheldon and Seven both returned to their duties. Captain Janeway had decided that Tom Paris and Sheldon Cooper would form her 'scouts' and the Delta Flyer went out on both short and the occasional 10-day mission, scouting ahead of Voyager's flight path.

Seven hated those missions even though the majority of them were only 2-3 days long. She hated being alone and sometimes, in the quiet of their bed, she talked with him about her desire to have his child.

"Sheldon, I want us to be a real family. Perhaps we could consider adding a child to our collective?" She'd almost blushed when she spoke.

"A little Seven for me to spoil and teach advanced math and physics? I would love another version of you to love and cherish but only if it poses no threat to your health."

They then proceeded to attempt to make his 'little Seven' but she wanted a little 'Sheldon'. Neither got their wish despite trying enthusiastically every time the opportunity presented itself.

Sheldon had just finished his final follow-up exam with Leonard and they were talking about some medical issues when Sheldon blushed and asked Leonard a question that the EMH hadn't anticipated.

"Leonard, if I'm healthy enough to have children, um, well, can Seven, I mean, is she able…"

"Yes, you're healthy enough but there are issues with Seven's fertility. Her Borg implants, the ones that can't be removed, make carrying a fetus to term doubtful, Sheldon. Perhaps when I've had more time to study the issue I'll be able to give you a more positive response."

"Leonard, does she know?" They both wanted a child and had been 'copulating' enthusiastically on almost any reasonably flat surface in their quarters.

"Yes, Sheldon. While you and Tom were out last week she came in for an exam and asked the same basic questions and I answered her truthfully just as I did you."

"That would explain a great deal regarding her most recent behavior. Thank you, Leonard. You've been most kind and patient."

* * *

Quarters

She'd been quiet, more quiet than usual. Her answers to his inquiries were always honest except when he broached the subject of her mood and then she'd adroitly change the subject.

More often than not, he found her in the 'day care' room that had once been cargo bay #2, playing with one of the five younger children or just holding one of the three infants when off-duty. She had a far-away look on her face whenever he watched her, unobserved. It seemed to match her current mood in their private lives.

They ate together with friends, frequented Sandrine's, snarked at each other unmercifully at pool ('your ocular gives you and unfair advantage, One' to which she'd reply 'Resistance if futile') but he almost always lost to her at poker.

They were the model couple until they returned to quarters and then she became Seven of Nine. If he had been dealing with Penny the solution would have been inconvenient but expeditious. He would simply ask her to accompany him on a trip to the mall to 'window shop' and he'd steer her to her favorite shoe outlet and surprise her with a pair and then ask her to tell him what was wrong. Problem solved.

But with Seven, there were no malls and she certainly wasn't swayed at all by clothing or footwear, deeming such things as irrelevant. No, solving the 'Seven Problem' would require a great deal more study, observation and testing.

* * *

He returned from a 4-day scouting mission accompanied by crewman Celeste Barnes, a member of the security unit who was cross-training for away missions. She had an intense desire to know about everything and he found in her an apt and willing pupil.

He'd begun teaching her basic physical science and physics and she'd soaked it up like a sponge. There had been little to do between waypoints except sleep, eat and be bored but not with Crewman Barnes. She was from one of the colony worlds and her education had been geared towards the needs of the colony and not Starfleet.

Seven was on duty in Astrometrics when the shuttlecraft returned and so Sheldon and Barnes turned in their reports and settled into the mess hall for food that wasn't recycled. He continued his lessons to fill the time until Seven could join him and soon the table was full of pads with formulae and drawings.

Barnes had a huge crush on Sheldon and it was apparent to everyone but Sheldon. It was very apparent to Seven when she entered the mess hall and found him in deep conversation with her.

She had no idea what emotions she was feeling except that she felt her bond with Sheldon slipping away for some time and now - this. She was jealous but didn't recognize the emotion. She felt threatened when Sheldon complimented Barnes on grasping some new theories.

She misinterpreted his actions. She felt that someone who was not damaged was replacing her in his affections - someone who could give him a child.

When Sheldon saw her in the mess hall he gathered up his things and went to her, ignoring Barnes.

"Hello, One. I've missed you." He leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head and offered him her unadorned cheek.

"It is good to see you also." She walked away.

* * *

Sheldon was perplexed by her behavior but still felt that the reason behind it had to do with her inability to bear a child. He regretted every entertaining the subject with her. She was Borg and she was stubborn and unyielding once her mind was made up.

Instead of talking about it she let it fester just beneath the surface and withdrew further into her shell, spending less time in quarters and more time in Astrometrics and Sandrines.

Sheldon's observations of her behavior led him nowhere. He consulted Leonard but he didn't have a clue either. He talked with Tom and B'elanna and B'elanna summed up her behavior in one sentence.

"Sheldon, she's jealous. You spent days with Crewman Barnes on an away mission. Barnes has an obvious crush on you and Seven can tell that and she's reacting badly. Talk to her, Sheldon."

"I've tried but she spends less and less time accessible to conversation of this personal a nature and she requires sleep since she no longer regenerates as often."

"Buddy, you have to talk to her. Explain things. Apologize."

"But I've done nothing wrong, Tom!"

"No, you haven't but you're dealing with a woman. Right or wrong, Sheldon, it's your fault." Tom looked at the glare he was receiving from his wife and shrugged. "It's the truth."

"I need time to think about this. Tom, you're scheduled for a 3-day mission. Let me have it. I'll take…Neelix or someone else who won't make her angrier."

"Talk to Chakotay. I'm all for spending more time on board with B'elanna now that she's pregnant."

Bridge

Chakotay listened to his explanation for wanting to 'get out for a while' and approved the crew change. Barnes was scheduled to go out with Tom but Sheldon insisted on another crewman or going 'solo'.

"It's a short hop. I'll authorize you to pilot and you can go solo."

* * *

Sheldon left the next morning. He'd spent the night on the settee in the living area of his quarters since Seven had come in late from Sandrine's and required more REM cycles than he. He would sleep on the shuttle.

Seven of Nine ordered her soup and cornbread and took her usual place in the mess hall. Harry Kim asked to sit with her and they had a pleasant time eating without talking.

She couldn't help but overhear the conversation at the table behind her. Crewman Barnes and her friends were discussing the away mission and Barnes was angry that Sheldon had scrubbed her from the mission.

"I like him. He's a good teacher and I have a lot of catching up to do and he knows a lot about everything. And he's cute but so unapproachable. All he talks about is that Borg wife of his and how happy he is. Honestly, it's all he talks about."

Seven looked down at her bowl of soup and sighed. She'd been wrong and made things worse by not discussing it with Sheldon. She identified the emotion she'd been feeling as jealousy after discussing it with Leonard. She hadn't been at Sandrine's. She'd been talking with the EMH.

"Excuse me, Harry, but I need to see Sheldon before he departs. It was good seeing you again."

"Might as well sit down and finish your breakfast, Seven. His departure time was 16 minutes ago and you know how punctual he is."


	19. And Baby Makes Three?

I could probably continue this forever especially with the new character but...

Reparata

* * *

Taken Chapter 17

The Delta Flyer was configured to crew four so there was plenty of room for Sheldon to amble around and putter with things while the shuttlecraft was in warp.

Sometimes he slept, mostly in the command chair so he could hear any alarms, for a few hours at a time. Sometimes he sat back and just reviewed all the things that had happened to him since the Harvester Probe had taken him.

Most times he mulled over Seven of Nine, fading One of Two, and analyzed almost every conversation, every event, everything in their relationship, searching for the key that would unlock her heart again. He appreciated his eidetic memory more than ever before.

He sensed that Seven was perturbed by the attention he gave Crewman Barnes but she was an apt pupil and he had forgotten how much he enjoyed teaching. He removed her from the mission roster rather than further aggravate his personal situation, something that wasn't fair to Crewman Barnes. He would have to make amends somehow but that was a concern for another time.

Seven wanted something she couldn't have and it was something that he couldn't give her. She was slowly eroding her bond with him and if B'elanna was correct, she thought that his desire for a child outweighed his love for her.

Bullcrap!

He finished eating replicated mac 'n cheese and ran his eyes over the various sensors and instruments again, just as he did at least 6 times each minute. It was subconscious and Tom had drilled it into his head that it was best to detect problems in his shuttle or outside in space as early as possible.

The proximity alarm chimed and sensors indicated that a large craft was approaching his position on an intercept course. He dropped out of warp and shut down all power except those vital to survival and hoped the Kirgon Pirate cruiser would miss him. That's what he thought it was. This was one of their hunting grounds near Demos IV.

Sheldon plotted an escape course that would allow him to outmaneuver the Kirgon ship and allow his superior speed to carry him out of harm's way. He'd know what he had to do in the next 8 minutes.

"Drat. I hate being right all the time. Just once I wish I'd been wrong." It was a Kirgon spacecraft and in 3 minutes he'd know if his 'possum' ploy worked.

The Delta Flyer was built of new alloys that reduced its sensor signature to that of a small asteroid or meteor and he and Tom had tried various maneuvers and power configurations to reduce it even further.

Thirty seconds. The Kirgon vessel slid by, almost colliding with the Flyer. It passed within 150km of the Flyer, a near-collision in space-faring terms.

He waited a full 20 minutes before setting course for Demos IV. He wanted to see his friends again, trade some items for those potato-things for Neelix, and then set course for home.

Demos IV

The pirates had been here. Where before there had been small cob homes with thatched roofs that reminded him of the Hobbit movies now there were smoking ruins and trampled fields. The market place had been looted and there were no apparent survivors.

The Demosians were tall and slim but males were handsome and women were invariably beautiful. The humanoid Demosians were spread out on their planet and Sheldon knew it might be weeks or months before the massacre would be discovered and in the meantime, the Griffons would ravage the dead.

He used the phasers on the Flyer to carve a shallow trench in the soft ground as a mass grave and then set about placing the bodies in it. His hatred of the Kirgon pirates grew geometrically with each shattered body he gentled into the earth.

He found the infant in one of the buildings that was almost undamaged. He was moving the body of a young woman when he found her cub that she'd shielded with her own body. It squalled when he picked it up but he had no clue what to do with it. He just knew he couldn't leave it to die.

The woman had been called Alira and she'd been among those who nursed him back to health after his run-in with the Griffon. She was one of several Demosians that he'd come to consider friends.

He had no idea what to do with the pale cub so he wrapped it in its mother's cloak and carried it to the Flyer. Neelix had incorporated his database into Voyager's so he ran an inquiry about Demos IV.

The staple diet was the potato-like tubers he'd liked and Sheldon hoped that a nutrient-enriched puree of the tubers would sustain the baby. He mentally scrubbed 'cub' and substituted baby as soon as the small being that seemed to be all eyes latched onto his finger and wouldn't let go.

Sheldon searched through the marketplace and found several of the tubers and brought them aboard the Flyer and sacrificed one for analysis. "Well, baby, it appears that the Replicator can produce an unlimited quantity of these potato things and that's good. Let's see what else Uncle Neelix has on file."

'Baby' kept him busy on his flight back to Voyager. Between feedings and diaper changes ('Good Lord, how can something so tiny produce something so gross!') and playtime, the two-day return trip seemed over before it began.

He rigged a sling from Alira's cloak and tucked Baby into it and then popped the hatch and descended to Voyager's flight deck. It was early Gamma shift and he knew Seven would be sleeping so he recorded his report and made his way to the mess hall to discuss the feeding of Baby.

"Welcome back, Sheldon. I – Is that a Demosian cub? Where is its wet-mother? Sheldon, the cub needs its – "

"Dead. The entire settlement you told me about. Except for Baby here. I couldn't allow her to perish, Neelix, I just couldn't!"

In his heart, he knew Sheldon was right but he also knew that the Old Man had no idea just what he was in for if he kept it.

"If you keep it – "

"Her. She's female. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't refer to her as 'it' in the future. And if Janeway says 'no' then I'll ask her to drop us off at Demos IV on her way by. What kind of people would abandon a child?"

Neelix patted him on the shoulder and went to find something to feed his foundling. What kind of people indeed.

She started to fuss and Sheldon glanced at the chronometer and then fumbled in his messenger bag and removed a 'baby bottle w/nipple' he'd replicated and modified to allow for the pureed tubers to pass. He was sitting back in the rear of the mess hall in his usual spot watching the passing parade of red-shifted stars and rocking his little girl to sleep when Seven burst into the mess hall and spotted him. Tom Paris had awakened her with news of his return.

"Sheldon Cooper, I must speak with you." He looked up at her and saw nothing of One and everything of Seven of Nine. Her posture was rigid and he expected this to be one of their last conversations as husband and wife.

"So sit down and talk. I'm fine, thank you for asking. I assume you are in good health also? That's sarcasm, by the way, Seven of Nine, in case you didn't catch it."

"I – I want to talk with you about our collective and the disharmony that seems to have pervaded it. Sheldon, I wanted to speak with you before you left but I missed you and so I've spent these past 4 days trying to – "

"If you wish to end our collective, One of Two, just say so. Quit beating around the bush. If you're not happy then I'm not happy and I can't seem to make you happy any more so, yes, end it. I'm sure Harry or someone else – "

"There is no one else who can make me happy but you. I do not wish to end our collective. I am trying to apologize for my behavior and you keep – what is that you're doing?"

He opened up the sling and turned it so that Seven could see what he held.

"One, meet Three, if you are in agreement. If not, Seven of Nine, then say 'hello' to my daughter." Huge blue eyes stared back at her and then reached out and grabbed Sheldon's finger and thrust it into her mouth.

"Does she have a personal designation?" She wanted to reach out and touch it but he obviously was waiting for her answer.

"Not yet. I thought perhaps her mother might like to name her." _'C'mon, Seven, don't be so dumb!'_ He waited, watching the emotions flit across her face but she didn't say anything.

"Did you bring its mother back with you? Another souvenir, perhaps?" Even Sheldon Cooper could detect the bitter sarcasm in her voice.

"Ah, sarcasm. No. I buried _her_ mother on Demos IV, Seven of Nine. I meant – "

"Katheryn. I have always liked the sound of it. Katheryn Cooper. Yes. Are you in agreement, Two? Resistance is futile."


End file.
